


In the Depths of the Wind and Rain

by LazarusII



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka Tano Needs a Hug, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Ahsoka Tano, Battle, Character Death, Dark, Foreshadowing, Gen, Grand Master & Grand Padawan Bonding, Hurt Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mentioned Darth Maul, Mentioned Satine Kryze, Mild Horror, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Post-Season 4 of Star Wars the Clone Wars, Pre-Season 5, Star Wars Big Bang 2020, battle fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:20:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23990695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazarusII/pseuds/LazarusII
Summary: Sometimes, a scenario may present itself with predetermined odds, where no matter what choices are presented, every one of them inevitably leads to mission failure.Planetbound and slowly losing to the vicious storm, Republic forces are vastly outmatched and outgunned. To make matters worse, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan become separated from the others, and are faced with the impossible task of completing the mission on their own.Still reeling from Obi-Wan’s masquerade as Rako Hardeen, and struggling to navigate the rift it had caused in her family, Ahsoka finds the entire weight of their mission upon her shoulders.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 48
Kudos: 236
Collections: Star Wars Big Bang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> I'd like to start out by saying a huge thank you to [Venatohru](https://venatohru.tumblr.com/), who created such awesome artwork for this fic, and [Shadowsong26](https://shadowsong26fic.tumblr.com/), who did an amazing job helping me get this extremely messy fic into something readable! 
> 
>   
> Trigger Warnings!  
>   
> Please be aware that this work turns into somewhat of a horror story, esp. towards the end. I would be on guard for graphic violence, claustrophobic scenarios/situations, and generally anxiety-inducing moments. 
> 
> A fun fact about this initial draft was for the 2019 Whumptober [day 19: Asphyxiation and day 20: Trembling]. 
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!

****

[AHSOKA I]

The rain came down in torrents, soaking the cliffside and making what had once been stable ground into a large, treacherous mass of slow-moving mud. Dark clouds blotted out almost all light in the sky, save for the occasional blinding flash of lightning. Thunder roared without end, making the air itself seem to vibrate even over the constant thrum of relentless rainfall. 

Ahsoka held her shoto aloft, her right hand pressed to the side of the cliff. In front of her, she could faintly see the outline of Rex’s armor, a slight patch of white against the darkened mud and dirt of their surroundings. Past that, a blue blade lit the air. That had to be Anakin, leading the slow procession. 

Using the Force to push back against the water droplets cascading from above, Ahsoka looked upwards. 

_I wish I could see the stars._

Supposedly, night was falling. 

_Almost eight days now._

They’d been deployed planetside, lured by the six Republic Senators who’d been taken hostage earlier that month. One of those captured was Ahsoka’s friend, Riyo Chuchi of Pantora, along with Kaminoan Senator Halle Burtoni. The others, she’d never met personally… but to think of anything happening to Riyo… 

_I can’t let her die._

_I can’t._

Padme had come to Ahsoka nearly in tears, begging her to return Riyo safely. And Ahsoka had given her word. But it had been an uneasy promise, as if something in her mind was whispering that things were going to go wrong… _terribly_ wrong. 

  
  


For nearly a day now, they had been held prisoner by the sudden onslaught of viscious weather. Their heavy machinery had been stranded in the trenches, sinking slowly to the point of uselessness. Then there had been the droid scouts, coming in at night when the fog and rain became too thick to see or breathe, cutting down anyone caught unawares. 

From the moment they’d entered the atmosphere, it had become obvious that they’d fallen into a Separatist trap, but it was already too late to turn back. 

Ahsoka still remembered the journey to the planet’s surface quite clearly. After all, it had been a painstaking process just to hold her tongue. Anakin had been throwing Obi-Wan dark looks the whole time… 

One by one, their support ships were hit by anti-aircraft fire and reduced to great bursts of flame on the planet’s surface. Ahsoka could still feel echoes of their deaths in the Force. 

The artillery landed first, and then two gunships. The remaining force was still on their way, their departures carefully timed. 

Then everything had started to go wrong… 

They’d lost ships on the landing, and then a single droid scout ship had been spied in orbit. 

Finally the call had come: they were on their own. The Republic ships, then, turned their attention to the more pressing matter--the Separatist fleet that had just come out of hyperspace. 

Ahsoka squinted. The rain was creating a halo above her, the droplets waterfalling together, forming churning rivers across her vision. 

Above her, a war raged, far above the thick cloudline. 

The Republic was there and fighting to hold their ground, that much was obvious. 

She pictured starfighters flitting between ships; the Republic bombers flanked by Y-Wings and Arc-170s. She’d fought in the war for long enough that she could picture each ship easily, whether Republic or Separatist. 

In truth, a part of her longed for that battle--anything _but_ the cold and damp.

But she was on-planet. 

And she had a job to do. 

Ahsoka rolled her shoulders and recentered herself, releasing her mental grip on the rain. She resisted the urge to groan aloud. 

_This is not good._

Sometimes, she really hated the rain. 

After their tanks had lost their use, she, Anakin, and Master Obi-Wan, had moved to a temporary location. They had to rethink their plan, removing any hope of air support out of the equation. To fly through that storm, especially in the planet’s upper atmosphere, was just asking to be killed.

Her Grandmaster had been busy with the strategy, but Ahsoka was too distracted by the healing cuts and bruises on his face--and Anakin’s whirlwind of anger in the Force--to pay very much attention. 

Then things had taken a turn for the worst. 

As the storm had intensified, however, the ground had begun to bring about its own set of questions. 

Avalanche? 

Could they even move? 

Should they press on and take shelter in the distant treeline? 

All the “should they” and “would they” questions had created chaos--and that was something they simply could not afford.

To add to the mix, Anakin had managed to bring about _that_ topic again. He was angry and still felt betrayed by his former-Master’s apparent “death.”

Despite their argument, the two Masters had agreed on the imminent threat of being buried alive. With that hanging above their heads, they’d moved out, simultaneously throwing out any kind of a concrete plan. 

They, however, still insisted on meeting up every few hours, still searching for ideas on how to proceed. 

Thinking back on that planetbound, stressful meeting, Ahsoka realized just how long ago it felt. 

_Maybe it’s a part of the scenery,_ she thought glumly, _just rain and mud, and then more rain._

She absently rechecked her toolbelt. After the last skirmish, she still had her two charges left, both of which had been contained in a fallen trooper’s bag. 

Looking ahead, Ahsoka once more directed her attention to the rain. 

Needless to say, it had been a long, dark journey so far.

||

Over a hundred men and three Jedi sloshed their way along the cliffside. Several hours had passed since Ahsoka had shielded herself from the rain. As usual, Anakin had held an attitude towards Obi-Wan, but both of them seemed to have calmed down. 

_Obi-Wan seemed about to lose his temper last meeting…_

After brief discussion, their new hope was to flank the nearby Seperatist camp and begin infiltrating their compound in groups. 

The problem? 

There was no way to predict what could be accomplished--especially considering the weather--and their data was clearly old and inaccurate. 

Glancing back, Ahsoka looked at the men behind her. What had been white armor was stained with days’ worth of grime, blending in surprisingly well with the cliffside. She counted four soldiers before she lost visibility. 

She wiped her face with the sleeve of her Jedi robes, thankful for the protective suit she wore beneath it--a suit not unlike the one she’d worn on their mission to Mon Cala. At first, the robe’s additional protection against the freezing rain had been appealing, but now the fabric only weighed her down, a hindrance which did nothing to aid skin already numbed by the cold. 

Ahead, Commander Cody called for a halt. 

The Force tingled slightly, causing Ahsoka to hold her breath. 

_Something is coming._

Her comm crackled to life and Obi-Wan’s voice came over the speaker. 

She held it at eye level, leaning forwards in order to hear clearly. 

_“Did you feel that?”_ Her Grandmaster’s voice was serious. 

_“I did,”_ Anakin’s voice replied, _“and I don’t like it. General Kenobi, might I suggest we send scouts. I have a bad feeling about this.”_

 _“As do I,”_ Obi-Wan replied. 

Shivers ran down Ahsoka’s spine as she took in the implications of what that could mean. They were in a situation that was about as bad as it could get; they had no tanks, no air support, and no functional way to track through the weather. 

_“General” Kenobi_ . Ahsoka heaved a sigh. … _And Anakin is still holding a grudge._ It was getting a little bit tiresome now, constantly having to mediate between them… 

_But Obi-Wan did fake his death,_ her mind told her. 

She shoved the thought away, a hint of a snarl on her lips. 

She was tired of nearly four weeks of irritated, snide remarks and constant reminders of Obi-Wan’s faults. It was no secret that she saw her Masters as family, but Anakin certainly made it difficult sometimes. Since the fateful mission, Obi-Wan had clearly made an attempt to repair their relationship, but Anakin seemed less than thrilled to even see his former-Master’s face. 

The only good thing about their predicament was that the two of them were _forced_ to work with one another, despite any prior misgivings. The downside: the fact that Anakin carried his foul mood into every single meeting and demanded solitude directly after--as he had in both of the past meetings. 

And as for Ahsoka herself? 

Though she had felt the betrayal of her Grandmaster like a punch to the gut, she had forgiven him over time--despite a slight lingering sense of anger every now and then. 

In many respects, she and Obi-Wan had become closer as a result of Anakin’s refusal to come around. 

The Force moved again, this time stronger. Ahsoka frowned. 

Anakin made a soft noise. He didn’t seem to have liked that either. 

Then the Force lurched, making Ahsoka plant her feet and immediately assume a defensive stance, alert. 

_“Droids!”_

Ahsoka spun as she heard the shout ring out from somewhere behind her. 

_Karking hells--Oh no._

_“Take cover!”_

The rest of the Clones’ shouts were drowned out as Ahsoka ignited her other saber and turned to face the cliff. Almost immediately, she swayed, her feet slipping downwards on the sloped path. Deactivating the shoto blade, she threw out her left hand to stabilize herself. 

Blue, red, and green bursts of laser fire filled the air around her; the cries of injured men speaking loudly in the Force as darkness filled her senses. 

The mud below her feet was shifting, and Ahsoka sensed something large and heavy approaching from above her. 

She tried to pull back but her hand had sunk into the cliff itself. 

Her comm squawked incoherently and she brought it closer to her face, only to jerk back when the sound of yelling B1 battle droids met her ears from above.

_What-_

The Force flared a warning before a low groan filled the air. 

Displaced planet surface threatened to bury her as the land surged. 

_“Ahsoka! Ahsoka come in- there’s a tank above your position -repeat -there’s a tank above you, get out of there!”_

Anakin’s panicked yell burst over her comm. 

Gasping, Ahsoka saw the dark shape looming above her -the nose of a gun turret coming into view, two bright headlights illuminating the rain… 

She threw herself sideways, tearing herself free of the planet’s clutches, only to find that there were no longer Clones nearby. Metal flashed before her vision, a spray of mud covering her from head to toe even as she lost her balance. 

_No-_

The world turned upside down as she fell; her lightsaber flew out of her hand as she crashed down the side of the ravine. Somewhere nearby, she could see a light, a bright-white light… but it was far away, shrinking. 

Everything was cold and damp, her limbs picking up nothing but slick mud as she fought to find something to break her fall. 

A hard object drove itself into her side and she briefly saw stars before the air was knocked from her lungs. Gasping, choking for air, she slipped downwards, her arm scraping something sharp. 

Ahsoka jerked back on instinct, and mud splattered into her eyes. Yelling aloud, she clawed at her face, feeling the ground slipping away under her-

Then, she was in freefall, flailing as her body plummeted downwards. 

||

Her descent came to an end just as suddenly as it had begun.

Ahsoka landed flat on her back in mud with a loud squelching sound. Dirty water sprayed everywhere, filling her mouth and nose. 

Shivering, she fought to calm her nerves. Then it hit her.

_I can’t see - can’t breathe!_

Choking, Ahsoka fought her way onto her side. Retching, she spat mud from her mouth, feeling its roughness against her teeth. Her airway was blocked, her lungs seizing as they fought for oxygen. Panic glazing over her mind, she felt her body convulse. A terrible whine burst from between her lips she struggled. 

At that point, she had little control over how loud she was. Her body was going into autopilot.

She gagged and spat for what felt like hours, her throat becoming raw and burned. 

Fatigue bit at every muscle in her body. Soon her arms failed her and she flopped back onto the ground, exhausted.

Her eyes burned horribly, the discomfort radiating across her head. Slowly, she opened them, hissing as the needle-like pain intensified. The raindrops hurt like hell, but eventually the pain subsided as the water washed the debris from her vision. 

_I have to keep moving. I need to get back up there._

Throat rasping with every breath, she struggled to rise, only to see a burst of white light cross her vision as pain rocketed up her side. 

_Oh-_

“Mother of a karking gundark-” She gritted her teeth and bit back a cry. 

The Jedi cloak was too heavy, gluing her down to the ground. Rain pelted her face and she pressed a hand to her eyes as it washed debris into them. 

_I can’t get up._

A part of her wanted to lie back and sob while the other wanted to scream in frustration. Where was her Master? Where was Obi-Wan? Were they okay? She hoped so. 

Slowly, she pulled her right arm across her chest, crying out at the physical exertion.

_\--have to contact…_

Painfully, she pulled her arm upwards until it rested on her collarbone. 

_Now the other arm._

The heavy robe didn’t want to leave the surface. With dismay, Ahsoka realized that, in the minutes she’d spent lying there, the rain had already flooded over her body, practically vacuum-sealing her to the wet ground. 

A terrible, cold feeling was spreading across her arm and left side. Numbly, Ahsoka realized that her suit was compromised. The chill spread with every passing second, sending shivers across her body. 

_Comm is … intact._

_“--nder, can you hear me?”_ Rex. That was his voice.

Ahsoka pressed her index finger to the communicator, choking as she inhaled rain. 

“-ex.” She coughed again, tasting metal, “I -copy.”

 _“Ahsoka!”_ Anakin’s voice was loud, overtaking Rex’s on the channel, _“are you okay? What’s your position?”_

_What is my position?_ The question echoed through her mind. Taking in a deep breath, Ahsoka heaved herself onto one elbow, scanning the area. 

The rain wasn’t as heavy compared to the cliffside, but it was colder and a slight fog filled the air. She was lying in a narrow valley, the sound of moving water faint beneath the hiss of falling rain. 

Distantly, off to her left, she could see the fallen Seperatist tank, its flood lights shining downwards; the main hatch was pressed to the ground, trapping its pilot and gunner inside. Even as she watched, the torrential rain was driving it down, thrum of its failing anti-grav units muted as its weight dragged it downward. Every now and then, the vehicle would lurch, only to sink even faster. 

Turning her head, Ahsoka looked up into a solid wall of darkness; there was no telling just how far she’d fallen from their position. 

But judging by how dark it was… “I think I’m at the bottom of the ravine,” she replied, her voice shaky, “I -I’m not sure how far away…” 

A Huttese curse came from the other end of the call, _“do you see Obi-Wan? We lost visual--him--men report that--e--fell.”_

_No._

Pain shot through her body and she stifled a groan. She fell back with a splash. 

_“Ahsoka?”_

The comm kept talking, but everything seemed so distant… Ahsoka exhaled. Around her, the world was spinning -or was she floating? The cold was biting deeper into her now, freezing her lungs and eating at her chest. 

_-so cold._

_“I-”_ Her lips didn’t want to form words. 

The communicator abruptly burst into a high-pitched shriek, catching her Master mid-speech. 

_Force, no._

Ahsoka silenced the screeching communicator and let her hand fall from her chest. The mud was cold, but the rain was colder, sapping at her strength.

Something caught her eye--a patch of white against her dark surroundings. It was close, maybe ten feet from her; how she’d missed it earlier, she didn’t know. 

An arm. 

A helmet, clear of any visible markings. 

She focused, squinting as she tried to force her eyes to focus. 

A blue marking, barely visible on the Clone’s gauntlet. 

_He’s from the 501st…_

The Clone was on his side, partially buried… or just camouflaged with the ground. She couldn’t tell. 

Water burned her eyes and she shut them, wincing.

“H-hey,” she coughed, “trooper…” 

She looked back, feeling tears slide from below half-closed lids. 

A dark substance was moving from below the rim of the man’s helmet, dissolving.

Her body was wracked with shivers, her fingers spasming as she attempted to make herself as small as possible. _Cold is bad,_ she thought hazily, _maybe I’ll just take a moment and rest…_

She knew it was the trick of hypothermia and the weakness brought by pain, but her eyelids were so heavy and she was so tired… 

The Force sparked distantly, and, as her eyes slowly drifted closed, she saw a dark shape approaching. 

_So this is it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this time, I'd like to thank one more person who helped me get this fic going: To the person who I only know as [the Percussionist](https://themusiciansword652231.tumblr.com/), thank you so much for reading and editing all 70+ pages of this work in one go.


	2. Chapter 2

_ He could hear her screaming at Anakin, the urgency in her voice.  _

_ “I got him--” _

_ The darkness was closing in, overwhelming him as the vital suppressor took effect.  _

_ He begged the Force that Anakin would one day forgive him, that it would be alright…  _

_ That it would be…  _

_ … _

Obi-Wan awakened to the sound of his own retching. 

Water flooded into his mouth and nose, mud caking the inside of his mouth as he gaped, his lungs screaming for air. Of its own accord, his body convulsed, spasming, his spine bending itself into a curved, fetal position; adrenaline pushing back at the darkness rapidly closing in on his vision, his arms flailed about, twisting his body to face downwards. 

Coughing roughly, eyes squeezed shut and hair plastered about his face, Obi-Wan felt his life draining away from his body as he shivered, his robes pulling him down into the muck. 

Reaching into the Force was difficult, the weakness of his own body transforming into a terrible sense of despair. 

_ Master, help me-- _

He gritted his teeth struggling to raise his arm from the ground. His hand slapped down, sending a fresh splattering mass of mud into his face. Groaning, he twisted, landing on his shoulder. 

He sank up past his collarbone.

_ Sithspit-- _

_ Karking hells above--I’m starting to sound like Anakin. _

Frustration and guilt crept into his mind.

For so long, they’d been stuck in this mess--nearly a  _ week _ . And no headway. There were hostages, Republic officers of rank whose lives were at stake. 

And where was he? Lying in the mud.

Stuck. 

_ Peace. Find peace _ . Obi-Wan exhaled, closing his eyes. The rain pelted the side of his face, filling his left ear. Turning, he shook his head, attempting to clear his ears to no avail.

A stubborn memory of Anakin’s angry face filled his mind’s eye, and he suppressed a new wave of guilt. 

That was his fault, and in many ways this was too. 

The Force was distant, but present, and he homed in on its soft light, feeling energy make its way back into his tired limbs. 

Heaving himself once more into action, he threw his left shoulder skyward, whipping his arm down as he rotated, his right elbow digging into the muck below him. His left hand met the muddy planet surface and sank, the disgustingly smooth, yet gritty sensation of wetness pushing against his nails and skin. From there, he leaned back, coming to all fours.

Obi-Wan let himself hang there for a moment, his wet, dirty hair falling onto his forehead, channels of grime tracing down his face from the perpetual rainfall. Pushing back a rising sense of irritation, rolled his shoulders, fighting his Jedi robe as it sought to cling to his body. . 

With deliberate slowness, he shifted his weight, bringing his right arm up to his eye level. 

He felt around with a hand, fingers brushing the spot where his comm should be. 

Gone.

He burned on the inside, feeling the fever which he’d repressed since the second day fill his senses. Breathing, he forced it back. Now was not the time. 

Movement, barely visible from the storm, caught his eye. The glow of two yellow eyes. A darkened silhouette, humanoid and yet far too sleek and skeletal. 

Obi-Wan’s lightsaber nearly slipped from his hand as he called it from his belt, igniting it even as the bolts of blue laserfire tore through the darkened air. He blocked, rising to one knee, teeth gritted with the effort of movement.

The droid had every advantage, slithering through the unstable terrain with the strength of many thousands of credits and hours of improvement on the assembly line.

Blinking back the rain, Obi-Wan watched the yellow eyes bear down on him, bracing himself for a fight which he knew he was not in any shape to win. Reaching out, he called upon the Force, feeling it flow through his veins. 

Against his every instinct, he let his eyes fall shut. 

Suddenly the world seemed clear, the rain no longer a nuisance in his eyes, but a dull roar to his ears. The droid was attacking, swinging its arm--a disturbance, like a ripple in a pool of water. 

Spinning, Obi-Wan ducked under a blaster bolt and splayed his fingers, destabilizing the ground beneath the droid’s feet. In the moment’s hesitation it took for the Commando’s programming to register the change and correct it, Obi-Wan’s lightsaber found its mark, driving a molten hole through metal plating. 

His eyes snapped open, locking with the two glowing visual sensors which hovered only a matter of feet away. Even as he watched, the light died, fading away until the droid blended perfectly with the darkened planet. 

With a splash, the metal body hit the mud and sank slowly. 

A soft touch echoed through the Force, a distant whisper through his bond with Ahsoka. 

_ Ahsoka. She’s here. She’s in danger… where…  _

He felt a sudden thread of fear twist itself about his mind. 

_ She’s not just in danger, something’s very wrong.  _

Reaching out, he tried to reach her, but instead found a haze of confusion and darkness. Frowning, Obi-Wan concentrated on her presence. 

Darkness, inky-black, oozing blackness. Nowhere to run--a terrible aching fatigue dragging him down…

Something was moving in front of him. Something dark--

His head throbbed, his skin burning with fever--

Squinting, Obi-Wan looked hard at what he could only think was another droid. But it seemed different. Shaking his head, he nearly unbalanced himself before grounding his footing and staring ahead. 

Horns. A heavily-tattooed face. Yellow eyes laced with red. 

Obi-Wan shook his head, stepping back, landing hard on one knee as his foot slipped.

“No…” he shook his head. “This can’t be right.” 

He looked back up, only to find a beam of green laser fire streaking towards his body. He batted it aside with ease, rising slowly. 

Heart racing, blood pounding in his ears, Obi-Wan scanned the area with his weapon raised. 

The Force whispered a warning and he ducked another round of blaster fire. Closing his eyes, Obi-Wan exhaled, but felt an odd panic rising within him.

_ Maul.  _ His heart sank. 

Suddenly, it felt like he hadn’t taken the time to visit the bacta tank, that he still had bruises and cuts which marred his face--that he was still on that ship with Ventress and Savage and Maul… 

_ Maul is a curse. I need to get rid of him…  _

Even with Ventress, they’d been outmatched. While it was true that he’d taken quite a beating before the real fighting had begun, the combination of Maul’s skill and Savage’s raw power was lethal. 

_ My eyes are playing tricks on me, I see.  _

“Show yourself,” Obi-Wan’s eyes searched the darkness, but found nothing that even remotely resembled the tattooed Sith. 

He lowered his blade. 

There was no sign of Darth Maul--not in the Force and  _ not  _ in his field of vision. 

  
  


A moment passed. 

He waited. 

And then Force flared once more. 

Obi-Wan instinctively swiped his blade downwards. A blue streak rebounded off his blade, shot right towards his midsection. 

_ Where’s the droid?  _

In the rain, he was blind. 

_ I can’t go to the droid, I don’t know what type it is yet. It’s too risky… _

He splayed his free hand, forcing aside the panic, the pain, the years of suffering--remnants of unresolved grief which threatened to enter his mind--and felt for the metallic body of the Separatist machine. 

_ There you are. _

Growling, he closed his fist. A loud crunch echoed from around him accompanied by a barely-visible flash of sparks. 

The Force went quiet, save for an ominous whispering. 

For a moment, Obi-Wan felt his mind slide out of focus, falling back to memories of darkness. Not long after Anakin had begun his apprenticeship, there had been a mission assigned to a distant moon… of course, it had been far, far off on the Outer Rim… 

But he’d been alone. 

Alone for the first time. 

Anakin was too young to go on such a dangerous mission as to help prevent the genocide of an entire native population--

Qui-Gon had always been there for him, but he was--

_ Ahsoka… focus on finding Ahsoka.  _

Obi-Wan snapped back into the present, eyes cast to the ground. 

Water hissed against his ignited weapon, the only source of light for as far as he could see. 

Exhaling, he extinguished the blade, fighting the compulsion to keep it in hand before clipping it to his belt. There would be no need for it. 

_ Calm.  _

The image of Darth Maul flashed before his eyes. 

It was a hoax, a false image projected by his tired mind. He dismissed the thought, grappling with the waves of negative emotions which followed. 

_ Focus. That Sith will only bring you more suffering and pain. Don’t go down that rabbit hole.  _

His eyes fell shut. 

The rain beat against his face relentlessly, pelting his skin so hard that it had long since gone numb. 

Ahead of him, he could feel a slight pull, as if a thread inside his mind were being pulled--a call to action, a plea for help without words. 

And so he responded.

  
  


Placing one foot before the other, he crossed the flooded terrain. He once felt the Force scream out to him--a warning. Leaping back, he’d heard something large and heavy crash down in front of him, spraying dirty water across his body. 

Upon opening his eyes, Obi-Wan took in the form of a fallen Super Battle Droid, its glowing red visual sensors covered with muck, its thin legs churning helplessly in the mud. In a swift motion Obi-Wan reached out with the Force, twisting its internal circuits until it shorted out. The droid’s struggles ceased, the soft hum of its motors fading away into that of the rainfall. 

To his right, he could feel the oppressive cliff, a dark mass in the force looming far above. Obi-Wan knew that somewhere up there his men struggled on. Anakin would have taken the lead… 

Unease rippled through the Force, Anakin  _ should  _ be leading them… Obi-Wan was somehow getting the feeling that his former-apprentice was less than thrilled with the current situation. 

A whine of straining machinery met his ears as he continued down the ravine, growing louder and louder. In the distance, he could see an AAT slowly sinking into the mud. Already the heavy tank’s entire right side was buried, the large barrel of its primary cannon swallowed by muck. The flood lights were muted, casting everything nearby in sharp contrast. 

The Force urged Obi-Wan on, and he approached the sinking AAT hesitantly. A particularly strong gust of wind sent his hair into his eyes, blinding him. Irritation spiking, he wiped his eyes as best he could. 

_ It’s going to be impossible to find her by sight.  _

“Ahsoka?” His voice was almost instantly swallowed by the wind and rain.

In the Force, he could feel her presence more strongly--she was a light in the Force, but that light was quickly fading. 

_ ‘Ahsoka, can you hear me?’  _ He called through the Force. 

The reply came as a whisper, a slight sense of recognition and awareness, travelling across their bond. 

Spinning, Obi-Wan scanned the area, squinting against the rain. She was here--close. 

He took several steps to the right and a distant flicker of metal caught his eye, reflecting the light of the sinking AAT. 

A lightsaber--a  _ familiar  _ lightsaber. 

_ Ahsoka…  _

He hastened towards the source of the reflection, slowing to a halt as he drew close. 

Ahsoka was lying on her back, but angled to the side so that the water wouldn’t restrict her breathing. The Jedi cloak which had -so often- provided protection and warmth was pulling her down, practically grafted to her body by the water. 

Her body had sunk into the ground, and was in the process of being slowly consumed by the rising water. Her legs were buried and her arms pinned. Only her head and shoulders were clear of the mud-stricken land. Her shoto had been cast aside, a silver rod poking from the ground only inches from her shoulder. 

Though Obi-Wan knew that she couldn’t have been there for very long, it was obvious that Ahsoka was not in very good condition. For one, her complexion was deathly pale, thrown into even harsher relief by the distant source of light, and that wasn’t taking into account the fact that her connection to the Force had faded considerably. 

Gently, he knelt, and retrieved her shoto blade. 

Exhausted down to his bones, Obi-Wan pulled at Ahsoka’s arm until he found her wrist, searching for a pulse. It was present, but not very strong.

Ahsoka’s eyelids fluttered, “M-Master…” She whispered, “I--mm--cold.” 

_ Understatement of the century, young one.  _

Obi-Wan could feel her wrist beneath his fingers, cold as death. One thing was for sure, she wouldn’t make it for long out here. 

Back with the main force, they’d had their gear with them, transported by clones and droids alike--equipped with the means to keep from freezing to death because the elements. The clones, of course, possessed their own protection against the cold in the form of their armor. 

Taking her hand in his, Obi-Wan willed his own strength to join Ahsoka’s. She resisted at first, locking a tired, yet defiant gaze upon him, before eventually falling back in silent acceptance. 

Ahsoka’s shivering grew less intense. They were both cold and wet, suffocating in the horrendous weather--nothing could change that. 

Straightening up, Obi-Wan felt his bones popping and cracking. He suppressed a wince. 

_ I’m getting too old for this.  _

Nonetheless, he offered Ahsoka his hand and she took it. Slowly, he helped her rise to her feet. Though supporting most of her own weight, Ahsoka leaned heavily on him, a hand pressed to her side. Her hands shook, despite her clear efforts to steady them.

_ She’s stiff from the cold. _

He reached out through the Force. 

_ … and she’s hurt…  _

__

“Ahsoka, are you alright?” 

Obi-Wan cursed himself for not asking sooner. Her discomfort should've been obvious to him. 

She waved him off. 

“I’m fine, Master.” 

Raising an eyebrow, Obi-Wan pointed out the rather large cut on her arm, barely visible through the mud--a gash clearly visible through multiple layers of protective bodysuit. 

“We need to get that taken care of-”

She glared at him. 

He narrowed his eyes, noting her hand which pressed firmly against her left side. He guessed it was another breach in her suit. Through their bond, however, he could only pick up a faint trace of pain.

It couldn’t be that severe… could it?

“--but now’s not the time,” he finished. “Ahsoka, have you received any communication from Anakin? I’m afraid my comm was lost in the fall.” 

Ahsoka’s expression fell. 

“I did, but the signal was blocked. Either it’s the weather messing with the transmission or the Separatists have our channels blocked. Anakin was concerned about where we were; he said you were MIA. I… told them that I fell into the ravine.”

She looked up at him. “That’s all.” 

Obi-Wan nodded, unwilling to let his disappointment show, “that’s enough to let them know that you’re still out here. We should keep moving.” 

A distant roar caused both of them to turn. 

Ahsoka frowned, “was that--thunder?”

The sound came again, a low rumbling sound, muffled against the constant sound of the rain. 

_ That’s not thunder.  _

Obi-Wan closed his eyes, breathing in slowly, “that sounds like cannonfire--and it has to be close.” 

Ahsoka nodded slowly, frowning. 

He looked down at her. In any other mission, he’d have stopped to rest, tried to get Ahsoka to a warm, dry place where she wouldn’t freeze or risk hypothermia. 

“I never thought I’d say this, but we should probably follow the sound.”

Ahsoka’s surprise echoed down their bond, “That's  _ Seperatist  _ gunfire.”

That it was, and Obi-Wan hated the implications of what the sound could mean. 

Had Anakin been spotted? Had the mission been compromised? Or was this the strategy that he’d been dreading—that the enemy was anticipating their moves and was firing on the cliff face in order to collapse the only stable pathway to their compound. 

Only time would tell, but following something was better than wandering into unknown territory. They could easily become lost in the darkness and end up far beyond hope of rescue. 

He balanced the odds, considering their potential capture. There was no way back up the cliff unless they backtracked nearly five klicks to a landform that they’d come to nickname “the Step,”

As he thought of the prospect, a sinking feeling filled him; the Force whispered. 

“My gut feeling tells me that we need to keep moving forward. We’re already in Separatist-controlled territory.”

Hesitating, Ahsoka nodded and pulled away from him, staggering a bit before looking forward defiantly. 

“Will you be able to walk, Ahsoka?” Obi-Wan knew the question was redundant, but felt it was important to voice nonetheless. 

“Yes, Master,” she replied. He could feel her pain in the Force, determination radiating out from her mind. 

_ She’s so much like Anakin,  _ he mused, before turning to face the fallen tank. 

What he hadn’t mentioned to her was that, if her life was in jeopardy, he’d be willing to barter his own life to keep her safe--even in such a time as this.

And even when the face of the enemy was General Grievous himself. 


	3. Chapter 3

[OBI-WAN III]

The ravine was flooding. It was a slow process, but one that Obi-Wan quickly grew concerned about. Nightfall did little to the scenery other than to plunge them into an even greater darkness, one that tempted him to draw his lightsaber just as a light. 

For a while, they’d slogged through the muck in silence, the cliff wall to their right, the steady thrum of the Seperatist bombardment the only sound other than the rain. 

The cliff itself had become more of a rocky surface than before, appearing far more stable than the muddy mass of loose ground earlier. Small channels of runoff flowed down the rocks, creating channels in the ravine floor, cutting through layers of mud and making footing increasingly treacherous. 

Most of Obi-Wan’s focus had, in fact, been directed to not falling; he managed to also keep an eye on his Grandpadawan, who seemed to be doing an admirable job of staying upright and moving. 

Even so, her fatigue was beginning to show. 

Ahsoka finally broke the silence. 

“Master, I know that Anakin is in charge of the rest of the troops now… but what do you think will happen?” 

Obi-Wan huffed, attempting to steady his breathing. He was tired as well, his bones aching terribly. He could feel bruises forming from his fall and his grip on the Force was becoming increasingly difficult. 

“I only hope that he’s retreated the company to safer ground. This place is only going to get worse. And he has to take into account that we did sustain casualties in the fall. A direct attack on the compound may be impossible. We hoped that the rain would let up by now, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.”

Relying on his Jedi cloak to protect his eyes , he directed his gaze skyward. Everything was dark and stormy. The wind had calmed since they’d started walking, but the realization brought little comfort. 

Ahsoka looked at him. 

“He won’t leave us behind--or the hostages,” she replied softly, voice tight.

“I agree with you, Padawan,” Obi-Wan sighed. “He won’t. More than likely, he will also make an effort to find us as well… for better or worse.” 

Ahsoka hummed in agreement. 

||

The entrance to the compound was small; a set of blast doors hidden behind an outcropping. 

It was at that point that Obi-Wan realized that the compound might be having its own problems. Rather than the door being higher than their current location, there was a set of stairs leading downwards into what seemed to be a deep pool of muddy water. The doors were all that stood between the water and the compound’s interior. 

“Ahsoka, we’re going to have to cut our way in… I’m going down there.” 

The Padawan opened her mouth in protest, but he cut her off, “your suit is compromised. At least, mine will protect me from the water temporarily. Stay on guard, I need you to defend against any Separatists that may come our way.”

He let himself drop onto the stairway, splashing down in nearly knee-deep water. Grimacing against the cold, he caught himself on the upper stairs before he lost his balance. 

Closing his eyes, he thought of warmth, willing the Force to protect his body as he slowly entered the water. 

First it came to his knees. Then his waist. Then his chest. 

By the time he reached the door, the water was up to his shoulders. 

The cold was terrible, oppressive, and bit into his body all the way down to his bones. Hands shaking, he reached for his lightsaber. 

Though painful, manually cutting through the door was the only way to not flood the corridor and still make it inside. 

“Master, are you alright?” Ahsoka’s voice seemed to jolt him into motion.

He fumbled the lightsaber before igniting the blade and driving it into the door at eye level. 

“I’m--alright, Ahsoka,” he panted. 

The connection he’d had with the Force was slipping slowly, the numbing cold creeping through his chest. His arms shook and his breathing became more and more erratic; blood roared in his ears, drowning out even the continued sound of the rain. 

He looked and realized that he’d almost completed half of the circular hole in the door. 

_ How did this go so fast… did I black out?  _

The sound of footsteps came from behind him and suddenly he could sense Ahsoka behind him. He could hear her boots entering the water, the sloshing sound as she approached. 

Fear crept into his mind and he threw back a hand. 

“Ahsoka, wait! You’ll freeze in this water, your suit--”

“And what about you?” She demanded. 

He heard a soft  _ thud  _ and felt water spray across his back. Chancing a look back, he watched Ahsoka throw his Jedi cloak aside, shrugging hers off and tossing it on top of his. Both robes slowly sank into the muddy water. 

She glared at him, lightsaber clutched in her hand, unlit. Her other hand was at her belt, resting on her shoto blade. 

“Anakin will kill me if you die down here. I can’t let you do this alone.” 

He could hear her unspoken plea. 

_ She doesn’t want me to risk myself like that again.  _

In the dim lighting cast by his lightsaber, Obi-Wan could see where her suit had been torn. Her skin seemed pale, exposed where the rocks had cut through the tough fabric. His every instinct screamed for him to tell her to get back to safety—

A wave of dizziness overtook him and Obi-Wan bowed his head. With that, Ahsoka charged into the water, all fatigue seemingly gone. Her steel resolve echoed in the Force. 

Rather than go into the water directly as he had, Ahsoka jumped for the walls, finding handholds in the rough stone near the doorway, keeping the water at about hip’s depth. Nearing where he was, she found a solid grip, leaned back, and buried her lightsaber up to its hilt in the door. 

After what felt like an eternity, they broke through, using the Force to gently push the circular chunk of blast door inwards. 

Obi-Wan rolled to the side, closing his eyes and breathing hard. He struggled to keep darkness from consuming his senses completely. Already light spots curled in his vision—which was far from a good sign.

“You first,” he managed, waving at Ahsoka.

For a moment, it looked like she would argue, but then the Padawan deactivated her saber and climbed into the compound. 

Obi-Wan hauled himself after her, his arms weak and bloodless. Less than gracefully, he slid his way through the entrance. His legs crumpled as he hit the floor and his back slammed against the metal door. For a moment, he saw stars before Ahsoka rushed to his side and helped him slowly recover his balance.

He shook his head, hands pressed against the wall for support.

Numb. 

His body was--

_ Wait, why isn’t Ahsoka taking out the security cameras-- _

He lurched to the side, intending to find a corner lean into it. Instead, his foot dropped off of the metal circle which he’d apparently landed on, and collided with the door’s control box rather hard. Grunting, he slowly sank to the ground, shaking. 

Ahsoka’s face swam into view. She was saying something, but his balance was off, the world spinning… 

“-r, the cameras have al--dy been destroyed--re. I --nk there was a flood.” 

_ Think, Kenobi.  _

Breathing deeply, Obi-Wan clamped down on his mental shields. Without meaning to, he began walking himself through one of the ‘grounding’ techniques that he’d forced himself to use in the months following his Master’s death. 

He could see a metal wall, the circular chunk of metal that they’d just cut, his Grandpadawan, his own grimy bodysuit, and water--

_ Water? _

Then everything came back into focus. Looking down, Obi-Wan became aware that he was sitting in about a foot of water. 

The walls around him, still brightly lit compared to the stormy atmosphere around him, were coming into sharper focus; they were not clean and well-kept as he’d come to associate with Separatist facilities. These were weathered and smeared with green sludge from where water had clearly come to and from. The cameras above, while still relatively intact at first glance, sported corrupted wiring which hung in clumps--a clear side effect of when the system had shorted out. 

As his eyes travelled down the corridor, he saw similar signs of damage. 

_ This doesn’t look good _ . 

Taking Ahsoka’s outstretched hand, he pulled himself up, feeling every bone in his body protest. Shakily he took one step, and then another. Reaching out, he once again took in strength from the Force. 

Silently, he wondered how long he could keep this up. 

Ahsoka, beside him, seemed about to speak before doubling over, a series of rough coughs wracking her body. 

He rubbed circles into her back while she struggled, realizing that his question of ‘how long’ was meaningless. 

He was going to keep going until the mission was over. 

Because it was his duty to protect his men, the hostages, and most of all, his former-apprentice and Grandpadawan. 


	4. Chapter 4

[OBI-WAN IV]

The trip to the upper levels seemed to take eons, with each new section of ventilation shaft bringing a new sense of dread to their rescue mission. 

Both he and Ahsoka had agreed that their first order of business should be to target the communications center and disable the signal-jamming unit. 

At first, Ahsoka had argued that they needed to rescue the prisoners. Obi-Wan, however, had been struck by the sudden, terrible realization that even if they freed the prisoners, there was nowhere to go. They could leave the facility, but the hostages had no bodysuits and would freeze almost instantly. 

Crouched over the comms center, Obi-Wan stared at the droid skeleton crew manning the various control stations. There were a total of seven droids, four standard battle droids, one command BD, and two SBDs who stood guard at the door. 

He leaned closer to Ahsoka, relaying his findings. His Grandpadawan, who had a different field of vision through the vent, nodded, and pointed at something just out of his view. Leaning back in an attempt to match her perspective, Obi-Wan spied a smaller collection of controls towards the back of the dark, circular room. 

The Force whispered. 

_That’s it. That’s where they’re blocking our comms from._

“I think that’s it,” he whispered to her, nodding. 

She looked at him, eyes dead serious. “I’ll go in first, maybe I can take out the camera with one of their blasters.”

Obi-Wan looked at her and gave his best encouraging smile, sensing a very Anakin-like thrill emanating from Ahsoka’s side of their light bond. 

“On three then?” He pulled his lightsaber from his belt.

||

Ahsoka crashed through the vent, sending the sheet of metal hurtling through the air and into one of the nearby droids. The BD sparked and fell, the vent sticking diagonally out of its chest. 

Obi-Wan shook himself, exhaling. His neck and shoulders were cramping from the long minutes he’d spent cooped up in the ventilation shaft--a discomfort he’d grown accustomed to over the course of the war, but now aggravated by the cold biting down to his bones.

Steeling his mind, he leaped down from the shaft, and his boots slammed into the top of a workstation only moments later.

Ahsoka had managed to demolish all but two of the droids and was engaged with one up by the doors. The other, the command BD, was advancing on her, blaster raised. Raising his hand, Obi-Wan yanked the droid back before it could fire, cutting it in two before it had time to react. Ahsoka, still dodging the remaining droid, waved her hand at the nearby panel and closed the blast door, fusing the controls. 

Trusting Ahsoka to handle the last droid, Obi-Wan turned to the controls. Blood roared in his ears, his heartbeat far too quick to be normal. Shadows danced across his vision, splotches of darkness that blinking could not get rid of. 

He grimaced, working the knobs and dials. Finally, the lights on the nearby panel died away as the barriers on the Republic’s comm frequency were once again allowed to transmit. 

For a moment, he stood there, eyes fixed on the panel. In the Force, he could feel Ahsoka approaching, concern radiating from her. 

Rather than respond to his Grandpadawan, he ignited his blade once more, and drew a great, burning X through the workstation. 

“Master, are you alr-”

He didn’t let her finish.

“We need to go, now,” he stared at her, acutely aware of his body crying for a break, “they’ll know we’re here.”

Rather than argue, Ahsoka gave him a piercing stare. She was no idiot; there was only so much he could hide from her. 

Besides, he had the Force. And if he died today it would not be from the cold. 

They had a second’s warning before the command center door blew inwards. Shrapnel, smoke, and sparks engulfed the room, accompanied by the rhythmic, metallic thud of droid footsteps. The barrel of a commando droid’s rifle emerged first, the glow of yellow eyes illuminating the smoke which hung thick in the air. 

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka exchanged looks, and immediately doubled back. 

The first commando droid attacked, lunging at Ahsoka, but Obi-Wan intercepted. Throwing himself forward and into its path. 

As the droid turned to face him, Obi-Wan aimed a kick squarely at its chest, yelling as a wave of exhaustion and pain washed over him. It was a hesitation which ended up costing him. The droid, as if noting his delayed recovery, aimed a strike at his face. Narrowly dodging the blow, Obi-Wan dropped, rolling back to his feet just in time to block a wave of blasterfire from a second droid which had just entered the room. Three more Commandos followed it, entering through the jagged hole that had formerly been a blast door. 

_It’s a slow response… all the droids must be topside on standby for an attack. But that will change--or it already has._

The Force let out a warning and he ducked again, stumbling back, away from their escape. On normal terms, these two droids would’ve been manageable. 

“Ahsoka, get out of here,” he cried, slashing at the droid, “we need to find the prisoners. ”

_We need to get out of here._

_Now._

His Grandpadawan, who was fighting the incoming droids, shot him a look. “With due respect, Master, I can’t leave you.” As she spoke, her lightsaber cleaved one of the droids in half. Spinning, she ducked beneath the other droid’s rifle and sank her lightsabers into its metallic chest. 

Using the Force, Obi-Wan sent his two commandos into the ceiling. He grappled against his own mind, struggling to regain control of his exhausted body. It felt as though time was slowing down, his breathing echoing loudly in the room. 

_I am one with the Force._

He closed his fist, feeling the phantom sensation of metal buckling beneath his fingers. His arms dropped, and he nearly fell to his knees.

“Go--Ahsoka, I’ll be right behind you. Contact Anakin.” 

Ahsoka shoved more droids back with the Force, before stumbling backwards, a hand pressed to her side. She looked back at him, fatigue written in her face, and nodded. 

She backed up, dodged laser fire, and clambered atop the now-damaged console below the vent, before throwing herself up out of view. 

Obi-Wan deflected a stream of laser fire from a final commando droid, catching it in the leg. The metallic body hit the floor and began backing up, the barrel of its E-5 blaster rifle rising up to meet him--

Two blaster bolts later, Obi-Wan passed the smoldering remains of the droid, eyes locked on the vent. He needed to get out, to rejoin Ahsoka and find the prisoners. The two of them, by mere chance, had managed to accomplish in mere hours what weeks of constant combat had not been able to achieve. 

_But we also knew that sending in a small infiltration party was suicide. There’s no way out, no way for a force to come in and secure the prisoners--_

He had barely managed to move an inch before blue and red laser fire exploded from the doorway, peppering the far wall as he rolled behind the rectangular comms station. 

“Surrender, Kenobi,” the metallic growl seemed to echo around him. 

Obi-Wan’s blood ran cold. He knew that voice all too well… 

“You’re surrounded.” 

Closing his eyes, he threw himself into the Force. 

_“Master!”_ Ahsoka’s cry, through their bond, cut into his thoughts like a knife.

_“Hurry Master--please!”_

He could feel her coming back towards him, throwing all caution away in her mad dash to come to his aid. 

_‘Find them Ahsoka. That’s our priority. Find the prisoners and make contact with Anakin.’_

Wrapping his thoughts about the grate, still cast aside from where it had impaled the droid, Obi-Wan sent it upwards. With a horrible screech of metal on metal, the rectangular sheet of metal lodged itself between the sides of the open vent. 

_They can’t follow her now._ He thought solemnly. 

A greenish glow drew his attention and he ducked. The console creaked and groaned as it fell apart, cleaved in two. Spinning, Obi-Wan came up on one knee. Towering above him stood General Grievous, four lightsabers angled towards his heart. 

“You’re a fool for coming here, Kenobi.” 

Stifling a groan, Obi-Wan straightened up, feeling his knees creak and pop as he moved. 

Grievous leaned back, like a predator surveying his prey. “And judging by your current condition… this will be easy for me.” 

Eyes narrowing, Obi-Wan made to move into his usual Form III stance, but stopped part way as his right shoulder blazed with pain. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” he managed, setting his jaw. 

It was at that moment that Obi-Wan fully took in the army behind Grievous, the dozens of droids with their weapons raised; the many pairs of sightless visual sensors trained on his every move. 

And the General laughed, his yellow eyes gleaming with a menacing, savage pleasure. 

“Goodbye, Kenobi.”


	5. Chapter 5

[AHSOKA V]

The vent felt too small. No, it didn’t just  _ feel  _ too small, it  _ was  _ too small. 

Ahsoka hauled herself forward on her hands and knees, pulling her legs out of sight from below. She could hear blaster shots through the metal and the soft hum of her Grandmaster’s lightsaber. At any moment, she expected him to jump after her… 

The Force shifted. There was something coming, something dark and terrible. The presence was familiar. 

Below her, the air filled with the sound of blasterfire. 

She called to Obi-Wan through their bond, willing him to hurry. 

“Surrender, Kenobi, you’re surrounded.” 

_ Grievous.  _

“He’s here,” she whispered in horror. She began to back up, forcing herself into an impossible position, turning around so that she could look down the vent--

_ This is not good.  _

The large, rectangular grate buried itself into the ceiling with a nasty squeal of metal-on-metal. Ahsoka bit back a cry of surprise, her momentary panic drowning out voices from below. 

Heart pounding, she peered down, eyes fixed on her Grandmaster. She bit back fear, watching as Grievous advanced from behind him, lightsabers trained on the console he hid behind. 

_ ‘Find them Ahsoka. That’s our priority. Find the prisoners and make contact with Anakin.’  _

The words were loud, resounding up their bond, and Ahsoka closed her eyes for a moment in an attempt to calm her nerves. 

_ ‘I will, Master…’  _

Every ounce of her being told her that she needed to stay and help protect her Grandmaster. 

Obi-Wan launched himself from behind the console and shakily assumed his favored Form III stance. Ahsoka felt her heart wrench as she sensed the pain in his every move. It spoke volumes that she could see it in his face and presence as well. He never showed his pain willingly. 

“Goodbye, Kenobi,” the Grievous sneered. 

For a moment, Ahsoka thought she saw her Grandmaster’s eyes rise to where she was hidden in the vent before fixing on Grievous. 

The Force hummed. 

_ ‘Go, Ahsoka.’ _

Her heart sank. Anakin was going to kill her. 

_ ‘May the Force be with you, Master _ .’ 

_ ‘And with you.’ _

||

Ahsoka felt like crying, the metallic walls of the vent blurring slightly as her eyes filled with moisture. 

She’d left Obi-Wan. 

Guilt weighted heavily on her mind. 

They’d only just gotten Obi-Wan back. It had only been weeks since her Grandmaster’s apparent, so-called, ‘death’ and subsequent masquerade as Rako Hardeen; the thought of losing him again hurt like a knife. She’d held him as he died, and watched as Anakin slowly descended into a cycle of pain and suffering, a mindset which he had yet to recover from. 

The sound of a body hitting metal paneling resounded loudly around Ahsoka, making her wince. Closing her eyes, she forced herself to keep moving. 

_ The mission.  _

_ Remember the mission.  _

Incomprehensible at a distance, the sound of Grievous’s snarls met her ears. A deep feeling of betrayal curled in her stomach. Anakin wouldn’t have left him, even after everything that had happened, he wouldn’t have--no way. 

_ So why am I still going?  _

She took another long breath. 

A flash of pain resounded through her bond with Obi-Wan. Though the sensation was dull, a hand flew to her side, the phantom pain overlapping with her still-burning ribs. 

_ Mission first.  _

Another flare of pain sent her reeling back against the metallic wall behind her, this time in her left shoulder, sending a painful tingling sensation all the way to her fingertips. 

Gritting her teeth, she heaved herself back away from the wall. 

_ Mission.  _

_ First.  _

But thinking that didn’t make things hurt any less. 

Curling herself into a ball, she rubbed her arms, legs, and chest, willing the Force to warm her frozen body. 

_ I have to call Anakin.  _

Her breath hitched as she keyed in Anakin’s frequency. 

It had to work. It  _ had to _ . 

For a horrible moment, there was nothing but silence. 

Her fingers clenched. 

_ Please.  _

Then--

  
  


_ “Ahsoka! Seven kriffing hells--are you alright? Are you hurt?” _

Suppressing an entire array of emotions which flooded her mind, Ahsoka leaned her forearm against the wall, eyes squeezed shut. 

The relief which she felt seemed so foreign. 

_ Yes, this is real.  _

_ This is real.  _

_ You’re okay.  _

_ Tell him you’re okay.  _

“Master, I’m okay. I’m in the Separatist compound. We were able to restore communications.” 

Ahsoka could almost hear the gears turning in Anakin’s brain. After all, she’d said  _ ‘we.’ _

More than anything else in the world, she wanted to go back.  _ Anywhere  _ but stuck in the ventilation shaft. She’d take the muddy planet surface and all of its horrors to this. 

“How are things up top?” She tried, dreading the answer. 

There was a moment’s pause before he responded. And when he spoke, it was nearly at a whisper.

“We took a beating…Ahsoka, we lost a lot of men to Separatist fire, but we made it safely to the treeline. Did you find Obi-Wan?”

There it was.

“Master, Obi-Wan found me in the ravine. We got in through the lower entrance and restored comms…” Ahsoka’s voice trailed off, something that clearly wasn’t lost on Anakin. 

_ “Ahsoka, where is he? I need to speak with him.” _

Ahsoka exhaled, “I… don’t know. Last I saw, he was up at the command center facing Grievous. His communicator was lost in the fall--”

Anakin clearly put two and two together. He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like ‘self-sacrificing bastard.’

There was a moment’s silence and Ahsoka felt her heart sink. 

_ How am I going to get Obi-Wan out of this? I left him-- _

_ No. He will be fine. It’s up to me to get him out of the mess he’s in.  _

A dull, yet horrible burning sensation began right in the center of her chest, expanding outwards. 

_ Oh no.  _

_ Obi-Wan.  _

As much as she tried to push aside the thoughts, a horrible image of her Grandmaster being tortured began to fill her imagination. 

She pictured the dark cells of the Citadel--but the lights were dark blue, the floor made up of bright silver paneling… And her Grandmaster… 

She squeezed her eyes shut. On instinct, she huddled into a small ball. 

_ Calm.  _

_ You’re not a youngling anymore.  _

_ You got this.  _

_ In every mission like this, there’s always a time when you come to this point. You want to give up; you think it’s all over.  _

She steeled herself. 

_ You made it through Mortis and the Citadel. Mon Cala. You saved the Prince.  _

_ You have a chance, even when it’s Grievous you’re up against. This was a trap, this whole thing was a trap and you’re going to be the one that walks into it--and keeps on walking.  _

_ “I have an idea of how to get you guys out of there,”  _ Anakin’s voice broke into her thoughts.  _ “But it means that you’re going to have to cause a distraction. Since you’re in the compound, you’re in the best position to free the prisoners…” _

She could hear the unspoken: ‘ _ and free Obi-Wan.’ _

“Master… I have a bad feeling about this.” 

Ahsoka heard Anakin sigh, his regret speaking loudly in her mind.  _ “So do I, Snips. But we have to make do with what we have.”  _

She nodded into the darkness.

_ “Rex and I will lead a team out front and draw enemy fire. I need you to make a distraction that’ll send the droids our way. Cody will lead a team to the ravine and we’ll get you and the prisoners out of there.” _

He paused. 

_ “We’ll wait for your signal. Our operation will be covert until then. We need an hour, minimum--And Ahsoka, be ready to run. My guess is that neither of us will be in any position to take out the enemy’s heavy cannons--it’s too well guarded.”  _

Ahsoka let his words sink in. 

Gathering her wits, she raised her head, eyes focused on the dark durasteel above her. A wry smile crossed her lips. 

“Copy that, Master. I’ll be there.”

_ “Ahsoka, please be careful and…” _ his voice trailed off again. 

Despite everything that the three of them had gone through, there was no denying the fact that she, Anakin, and Obi-Wan were family. She knew what her Master was going to say even before he voiced it. 

“I’ll make sure he’s okay.”

When Ahsoka finally ended the transmission, the strange dread she’d been feeling threatened to return, but this time she was able to push it back.

She had a job to do. 

  
  


[OBI-WAN V]

_ A hand cracked against his face.  _

_ “Wake up, Kenobi.”  _

_ He faced a fire, a hand pinning his chin to a small rock wall. The sky was dark, filled with dark clouds. Around him, the Raydonian village was in flames, its inhabitants scattered across the ground, mangled and broken in death.  _

_ Smoke burned his eyes and nose, as the noxious fumes of burning flesh and bone filled his senses. He thrashed in the larger Zabrack’s grip, sinking his teeth into his lower lip as Maul viciously kicked downwards, nearly impaling his leg with a metallic, clawed foot.  _

_ Pain shot through him like lightning. Everything was on fire--he was on fire.  _

_ Fingers gripped his hair, nails digging into his scalp.  _

_ “I’m disappointed, Kenobi.”  _

_ The nails dug deeper and a burning sensation spread across his skin.  _

_ “Still so weak… so frail...” _

_ Obi-Wan shut his eyes, the hum of a lightsaber filling his ears. He prepared for the terrible pain-- _

_ He could feel Maul’s breath on the side of his face, “so weak, just like your Master Qui-Gon Jinn. What would he say now?” _

_ A fire burned in the pit of his stomach and he jerked his shoulder back, clipping Maul before the Zabrak could move out of the way. _

_ Savage, who must’ve been holding him let out a feral growl. A moment later, a brute force collided with Obi-Wan’s right shoulder.  _

_ Stars burst in his vision and he went limp.  _

_ Maul kicked him, sending him rolling across the ground before raising him back up in the air.  _

_ ‘I’m sorry, Anakin.’ He thought, ‘I’m sorry.’ _

_ “I can feel the guilt on you, Kenobi,” Maul drawled. _

_ The red light of the Sith’s lightsaber filled Obi-Wan’s vision.  _

_ “Who did you disappoint this time?” The lightsaber came closer to the bridge of his nose.  _

_ Savage’s fingers pressed wickedly into his jaw, pinning him.  _

_ An explosion rocked a nearby house, belching smoke upwards. He watched a large chunk of ash rise from the destroyed building. In front of it, the garden was a halo of flame, machinery sparking in protest of the high heat, purposefully ignoring the bright band of red light which took up most of his vision.  _

_ ‘I caused this,’ he thought, ‘I didn’t kill him back then… I thought I did…’ _

_ Maul brought the lightsaber even closer; so close that Obi-Wan instinctively shrank back.  _

_ “Now tell me, Kenobi,” the Sith drawled again, “who should I destroy next?” _

_ Savage snarled in approval.  _

_ “Should it be Skywalker?” Maul mused. “Or maybe his little pet…” _

_ ‘How does he know,’ Obi-Wan thought, ‘how?’ _

_ The lightsaber vanished and Obi-Wan heard a snarl.  _

_ “I thought you said there were no survivors.” Maul sounded furious.  _

_ “I looked,” came Savage’s reply.  _

_ “It seems a hunting party did not get the message.” _

_ Maul hissed and leaped out of Obi-Wan’s sight.  _

_ Savage, taking great joy in Obi-Wan’s suffering, roughly hauled him upright, making sure to drag him against the rough stone one the way. _

_ The moment the Zabrak even slightly relinquished his grip, however, Obi-Wan was ready.  _

_ Twisting, he aimed for the most obvious weakness he had noted earlier in Savage’s fighting stance: his knee. Lashing out with his foot, he dug his heel right into the soft spot where the joints met.  _

_ Savage howled and dropped him.  _

_ Obi-Wan bolted, racing towards the distant treeline, hoping to bait Savage into following him. In an open area, he had not chance, but if he could use the Zabrak’s own size against him…  _

_ He froze.  _

_ Well, not exactly.  _

_ More accurately, he was  _ frozen _.  _

_ “Running away, Kenobi?” Maul’s silky voice was dripping with contempt.  _

_ He was choking, his throat collapsing in on itself. Still suspended in the air, he writhed, eyes wide, hands clutching his throat.  _

  
  


_ “Brother,” the larger Zabrak’s voice seemed to come from far off, “we must leave.”  _

_ “Pity.” Maul sneered.  _

_ And then Savage’s fist was bearing down on him, knocking him to the ground.  _

_ Obi-Wan’s head knocked against something hard.  _

_ And he knew no more.  _

_ … _

_ … _

_ And the Force kept whispering. _

_ It whispered ‘danger.’ _

_ Even when he left Raydonia.  _

_ It still whispered when he returned to the Negotiator.  _

_ When he tried to speak to Anakin for the first time since Naboo.  _

_ When his former-Apprentice rejected him again and again.  _

_ When the bruises began to heal.  _

_ When they landed on the storm-bound, godforsaken planet.  _

_ And when he finally came to the realization that he may never be able to repair the relationship between himself and Anakin Skywalker.  _

_ … _

_ … _

_ ‘Danger’  _


	6. Chapter 6

[AHSOKA VI]

Ahsoka climbed for what felt like centuries, slowly clambering up the vertical ventilation shaft. She could still feel prickles of pain from her Grandmaster, and feel a constant thrum of apprehension from Anakin. 

The rungs were freezing against her fingers, and several times she nearly slipped.

She passed one vent, and then another… and then… 

Ahsoka turned, arms aching, and hauled herself into the adjacent tunnel, eyes still fixed on the unforgiving metal above her. Facedown, she lay there for a moment, allowing herself to just breathe. 

Everything hurt, from her arms to the soles of her frozen feet. 

She collected herself and rolled over, reaching out the Force once more for warmth. 

Instantly, strength flooded her body. 

She winced, it felt good, but it hurt. 

It hurt a  _ lot _ . 

_ I’ve got to keep going.  _ Mentally, she felt exhausted and her body…

She pictured a giant ice cube. 

In a moment’s humor, she almost laughed, then almost immediately curled inwards. Her ribs burned like fire.

_ I feel like I’m going insane.  _

Exhaling, she rested her head back against the metal. 

_ Anakin is counting on me. I’m going to get us out of here.  _

_ And that means I need to move.  _

||

Ahsoka continued onwards, eyes fixed forwards, searching for a vent leading upwards. If her memory served, there should only be one floor left… 

She saw the junction first, the telltale rungs of a ladder leading upwards revealing the path to the hangar bay. 

The Force whispered, warning her that something was wrong. Heart racing, she stopped. 

It was as though an invisible power was drawing her down the adjacent tunnel, causing her to move, to drag herself up over the lip of the circular shaft, and deeper into the compound. 

She’d just gotten sight of a light, cast by the corridor below and filtered into the ventilation shaft by the grate, when her mind caught up with her. 

_ Ahsoka, what are you doing?  _

She stopped. 

_ This is a waste of time-- _

Then she felt it, a deep sense of darkness and death, coming from up ahead. 

Tentatively, Ahsoka crept forwards, almost afraid of what she’d find. 

Soft sounds emanated from the nearby grate. Inching forward, Ahsoka peered between the thick, metal bars, eyes searching the corridor below her. 

She saw four dark, heavy doors flanked by no less than six Commando droids. 

_ That’s the temporary holding cells,  _ she realized,  _ I’m too high up in the compound for this to be the prison block _ .  _ But then…  _

Reaching out, she searched the Force. The overwhelming amount of pain and death nearly sent her reeling, echoes of the fallen crying out around her in a terrible chorus of suffering. And in its midst, discernible only by a sense of white-hot agony--

_ Obi-Wan.  _

Almost automatically, she unclipped her lightsaber from where it rested against her hip. 

The grate was welded into the durasteel ceiling, so she’d have to cut her way out--

She steeled her mind. 

_ I can get him first--but would he be well enough to move?  _

_ The prisoners are down in the lower levels, but he’s here… this is my chance.  _

_ Ahsoka, be logical. Calm yourself, you’re acting out of emotion.  _

_ Place the charges, then prisoners.  _

_ Then Master Obi-Wan. _

_ \--it’s the only way, you know it is.  _

Her fingers closed around the lip of one of the holes in the durasteel, her other hand bringing her weapon closer to the grate--

_ I can cut through this in seconds.  _

_ I can save him.  _

_ I--  _

Ahsoka froze as the cell door closer to her hissed open. Another two Commando droids came into view, stepping into the hall, blaster rifles held at the ready.

From somewhere out of sight, loud, clanking footsteps filled the air--too heavy for any standard droid. The sound grew louder and louder, until a raspy voice finally placed an identity to the mysterious figure. 

“Guard the prisoner. Do  _ not  _ let anything past your sight. If you see anything or anyone, you contact Command  _ immediately _ , do you understand?”

A chorus of  _ “roger rogers”  _ followed Grievous’s question. 

_ Obi-Wan is here. He’s right below me. And I can’t get to him now.  _

She caught herself again.

_ Logic before emotions.  _

Grievous nodded, his hideous, yellow eyes fixed on the Commando droids around him. “I will send for the Interrogator.”

The General’s eyes flicked up towards the vent and, for one horrible moment, she thought that he’d spotted her. She shrank back on instinct, silently whipping out of sight. 

Then he was moving, vanishing inside the cell. The door closed with another hiss, the lock clicking back into place. 

Breathing hard, Ahsoka did her best to relax. 

_ I can’t go after him now… there’s too many of them…  _

Ahsoka looked down at her lightsaber which was still clutched in her hand. 

_ What was I thinking?  _

Quietly, she clipped her lightsaber back to her hip where it belonged and crept across the grate. The junction drew closer--

\--and pain ignited the bond with her Grandmaster once more. 

||

There were more droids in the Eastern hangar bay than she could count. Blocks of droids, too precisely aligned for any non-machine, created a grid across the large durasteel expanse. Above them, currently on standby and protected by ray-shields, were the heavy artillery. 

From her viewpoint near the floor, the large guns appeared very similar to the Trident-Class assault ships which the Seps had used to invade Kamino and Mon Cala… well, that was if those ships had been cut in half and fitted with a massive gun turret. Its durasteel supports snaked across the ceiling and down to the floor. 

She counted two big guns in the East hangar and assumed the same for the West as well. And that was, she decided was going to pose a problem for Anakin’s team. 

Ahsoka moved at a crouch, moving between grates in an effort to get a good vantage point. Finally, she stopped at the far side of the hangar, what appeared to be a pair of thick blast doors before her. 

_ Just wide enough to get a shuttle through, but no larger. Probably camouflaged from outside.  _

Ahsoka reached into her belt and pulled one of the charges, pairing it to her comm unit’s frequency. 

Looking up, she bounced it in her palm. 

_ This isn’t much… but it’ll have to do.  _

_ I can’t blow my cover now.  _

Eyes narrowing, she focused on the point where the large artillery unit peered through the dome-like ray shield. Dimly, she could see lightning from outside, filtered through the blue hazy forcefield. 

Out there in the terrible storm, pounded the rain and wind, was her Master and the Clone Battalions. They  _ needed  _ ammo like this, maybe not the standard battle droid stuff, but the rest… the fuel… 

_ Not this time.  _

Exhaling, she dove into the Force, maneuvering the small charge between the grate’s metal bars and out into the open. She followed its path, directing it to follow the wall until it reached its target. 

With a soft flick of her wrist, the charge magnetized, sealing itself in the joint where the supports met the base of the closest artillery tower. 

Ahsoka ducked out of sight, moving in order to align herself with the other artillery unit and repeated the process. She’d only just managed to seal the charge on the durasteel support when she heard the hiss of doors opening. 

Suddenly the hangar became alive. Hundreds of metallic feet moved in unison, turning to attention. The sound sent waves of panic through her. 

_ Grievous. He’s here... _

The cyborg General marched forward, confronting a nearby tactical droid. His voice, however, carried. 

“Have you found her yet?” He snarled. 

“We have not,” the monotonous voice of the droid responded, “there is still a ninety-six percent chance that the other Jedi is still in the compound.”

Grievous growled loudly.

“I suggest we broaden our search to include the maintenance and ventilation shafts--”

The droid’s voice became muted by Ahsoka’s own breathing. Her heart pounded in her chest. 

Shying away from the grate, she slowly inched back out of sight. 

_ I have to get out of here. _

As quietly as possible, Ahsoka hastened away from the hangar, feeling slightly nauseous, stopping only when she felt she was out of earshot from the hangar. 

With slightly shaking fingers, she keyed in Anakin’s frequency and waited, heart racing. 

_ “Skywalker here.”  _

Just hearing her Master’s voice caused a wave of relief to course through her. Suddenly aware of how loud his voice was over the comm, she covered the small speaker with her hand. 

“Master, I just set the charges,” she whispered, “but they’re searching the ventilation system so I’m not sure how much time I have left before I’m discovered. How close are you to being in position?”

_ “We need a few more minutes. We’re having trouble approaching the compound. Cody and his men left almost immediately after your last contact. My guess is that they will need more time than we do up here.” _

“Copy that,” she replied, heart sinking at the implications of his words. 

_ “Be careful, Snips.”  _

“I will try, Master.” 

_ “May the Force be with you.” _

“And with you.” 

She severed the connection and rolled her shoulders. Exhaling, she drew the Force about herself once more. 

_ You’ve got this.  _

||

The rest of her journey seemed to blur together as she gradually made her way down floor after floor. But as she reached the same level as where Obi-Wan was incarcerated, the Force began to whisper once more. Frowning, she fell out of her reverie, a foot braced against the next adjacent tunnel, hands on the rungs of the ladder. 

A soft hissing sound met her ears, coming from above--from where she’d just come from. 

Dread filled her stomach. Looking up, she saw only darkness. 

_ Something’s up there _ . 

Almost afraid of what she’d find, she ignited her shoto, relying on its light green blade as a light source. 

Something pale white was creeping down from the darkness, twisting and changing with every passing second, like fingers reaching for her. Her heart leapt into her throat as a faint smell of pepper reached her senses.

_ Gas--they know I’m in here! _

Ahsoka dropped downwards, diving for the entrance to the adjacent tunnel. She  _ had  _ to get to Obi-Wan _.  _ In her hurry, her forearms slammed into the lip of the tunnel. Pain ricocheted up and down her spine. One of her nails caught against the metal and she felt the disgusting cracking sensation as it broke. 

Her eyes were watering now. The smoke was travelling so quickly. Repressing the urge to cough, she held her breath, feeling her chest heaving. Small fires blazed to life behind her eyes, tears welling up in her vision. 

_ What did you expect, Ahsoka? Did you expect that they would ignore you even after what Grievous said?  _

_ The tunnels are not safe.  _

_ Your cover is gone.  _

_ You said it yourself.  _

She saw the nearest vent and sent the grate crashing down, all caution thrown aside in her desperation for air. The brighter patch of tunnel seemed to multiply, then slide back into focus, her eyes fighting against the smoke--

_ I will meet the consequences of my actions.  _

_ \--Air--I need air.  _

_ Just a little farther-- _

She barreled forwards out of the ventilation shaft, dropping rather unceremoniously onto the durasteel plating of the compound floor. 

Ahsoka gulped down the fresh oxygen, acutely aware of the pounding metallic feet coming her way. 

Her lungs hurt, her head hurt-- _ everything _ hurt. 

_ Move, Ahsoka, move!  _

Her mind was screaming for her body to respond. But it was like her every move was slowed, her limbs refusing to obey her command. 

Eyes slightly blurry, using the wall for support, Ahsoka hauled herself forwards, pulling her lightsaber from her belt. The green blade seemed to take up her vision, blindingly bright in the illuminated corridor. 

A flash of blue streaked toward her and she slashed downwards, sending the blaster bolt back in the direction it had come from. Blinking rapidly, she shook her head, feeling a throbbing sensation growing behind her eyes. Were there four droids--or three?

Ahsoka lunged toward the faintly-outlined metallic figure, her lightsaber drawing a blazing arc through the air. As the blade hit metal, her armed jerked back--she hadn’t anticipated the droid to be so close. 

The world seemed to lurch beneath her feet and she shut her eyes as nausea burned its way up her throat. Around her the Force swirled and she rolled to the side as two more laser bolts whizzed past her montrals. 

She called her shoto to her free hand and shifted her weight, exploding up from the ground and landing a kick right where she knew another droid was standing. As it reeled, she cleaved it in two, burying her lightsaber in the other as she broke away. The last droid backed off, sending another wave of blaster bolts in her direction which she easily deflected back into its chest. 

Panting, she fell against the durasteel wall, one hand coming up to rest on her forehead. Opening her eyes, she found the blurriness had finally faded from her vision. Only a small haze remained on the edges of her sight 

_ Obi-Wan.  _

She stumbled forward, feeling the aftereffects of being crouched in such a cramped space for so long. 

_ He has to be close. I know his cell is here… _

Gradually she coaxed her legs into a run, feeling aching muscles and bones creak as she urged herself onwards. She passed one corridor, continuing in a straight line until--

Around her, pain and suffering hung heavy in the air, like a thick, stifling veil. Distant wailing once more echoed in the Force, exuding a sense of terror just as potent as the terrible gas flooding the ventilation shaft above. 

The dark doors, the droids--Ahsoka faced them down. 

_ Eight battle droids.  _

Igniting her blades, she began to cut them down, sinking herself in the Force and allowing it to guide her every move. But even as he sabers blurred in combat, cutting through metal and circuitry, a reinforced feeling of foreboding sank into her stomach. 

_ I thought there were more-- _

Chest heaving, she made her way to the nearest cell, practically throwing all her weight into the door’s release. 

Yellow eyes blazed from the darkness, causing her to stumble back, slashing wildly with her lightsaber as the Commando droid lunged. From behind the droid came a methodic marching, a sound intermixing with the mechanical hiss of doors opening behind her. 

Eyes going wide, Ahsoka looked around her. The corridor was alive with motion as the droids poured from inside each cell, blasters levelled towards her body. 

Ahsoka retreated falling into a defensive stance, heart hammering in her chest. 

Everywhere she looked, there were droids--B1s, SBDs, and Commandos alike. Her leg brushed against the head of a fallen droid and she nearly tripped, feeling its circuitry spark against her boot. 

Desperation filled her as her eyes travelled from cell to cell. Dark and unforgiving, each room revealed the same bleak answer to her unspoken plea. 

Obi-Wan was gone. 


	7. Chapter 7

[OBI-WAN VII]

The droid bore down on him in seconds, the tip of the electrostaff drawing closer and closer--

  
  


And then he was floating, swimming in a dark pool of his own thoughts. 

_ Before him, he saw the purple hues of the Theed Plasma Refinery and heard the hiss of the ray shields locking one-by-one.  _

_ Ahead of him, far out of any hope of rescue, he watched the duel.  _

_ He was trapped, just like he had been back then.  _

_ Useless.  _

_ He railed against the dream with all his might, recognizing the memory that he’d played over and over for years, searching for some clue, some way to blame himself for the death of his Master.  _

_ Closing his eyes, he heard the hum of lightsabers through the air and the telltale spitting when they met.  _

_ Then he heard the gasp, the subtle sound of metal against his Master’s elbows.  _

_ The hiss of flesh against the Sith’s blade.  _

_ The soft thud of Qui-Gon’s knees on the durasteel plates.  _

_ He didn’t want to see any more, to feel the way that he’d spun his saber in anticipation, waiting for his vengeance. He didn’t want it.  _

_ And yet he did.  _

_ Every time.  _

_ Just as his blade connected with Maul’s body, however, the dream inverted itself before setting himself. Back on a rooftop.  _

_ Not any rooftop, he realized.  _

The  _ rooftop.  _

||

He twisted in the restraints, feeling pain radiating through his body. 

Cold metallic hands grabbed his arms and legs, and he fought them with what little strength he had. 

Already, one eye was swollen shut, courtesy of his captors. He remembered the motonic voice asking the same thing over and over:

“Where is Skywalker?”

“Where are the Republic forces?”

And each time, he’d given them a different response, falling back on his wit, searching desperately for even the smallest amounts of humor in all of this… 

||

_ Above him, the Coruscant night sky glowed with orange light, the stars barely visible from all the pollution of the city planet.  _

_ He could feel the bulk of the vest against his body and the sharp sting of the vital suppressor against the skin of his neck. Closing his eyes, he prayed to the Force that it was worth it.  _

_ That the next step he took would be worth jeopardizing the relationship he had between the man he considered his brother--and his Grandpadawan.  _

_ The Chancellor.  _

_ The Jedi Council.  _

_ The Senators and civilians of Naboo… _

_ They were all depending on him.  _

_ He took the step, feeling the shock of the blaster bolt ricocheting across his body, jarring him down to the bones.  _

_ ‘Forgive me, Anakin,’ he whispered.  _

_ Then his heel caught on the side of the roof.  _

_ And he fell, the scream of his former-Apprentice still ringing in his ears even as darkness overtook his vision.  _

||

_ “How could you do that? Would you betray everything? Everyone?” Anakin was gesturing wildly with his arms, rage and betrayal casting a darkness over his eyes.  _

_ “Anakin, I--”  _

_ “I don’t need to hear it,” he snapped, expression twisting, “don’t even try to explain that kriffing excuse to me. You were doing your duty--I get it.”  _

_ Ahsoka, hovering near the edge of the smaller dojo, was a small shadow in the Force compared to her Master who filled the very air with a hurricane of betrayal and pain. _

_ “Anakin…” Obi-Wan tried again, “pl--”  _

_ Anakin looked at him with cold eyes, “I have a meeting with the Chancellor in an hour. I need to go.”  _

_ He was alone, head bowed, eyes on the floor. His mind was numb.  _

_ A pair of reddish-brown boots entered his vision. Ahsoka.  _

_ She stared up at him with bright eyes.  _

_ “I’m sorry, Master…” Her expression twisted as if she were holding back tears. “I know he’s angry for good reason, but it feels like so long…”  _

_ He sighed, eyes moving to the exit that Anakin had just departed through.  _

||

  
  


_ The ship was already tense, filled with nervous anticipation.  _

_ All around him, the stations were full of clones, all ready for action and battle. He looked around, taking in the scene.  _

_ Next to him Obi-Wan could feel his former-Padawan’s suppressed rage. It had been over a week, nearly two.  _

_ And missions, duty… it had all come in the way.  _

_ Ahsoka had done her best to get Anakin to talk, but the rage inside the man was cold and unforgiving. _

_ Exhaustion dragged him down, the cuts and burns still throbbing from two days before…  _

_ Maul. It was all he could think about now.  _

_ Even during the mission briefing, the only thing he could see was the village flames and the growling voice of the Sith.  _

_ What terrible dark horrors had kept the Zabrak alive, he wondered.  _

_ Anakin, nearby, levelled a glare at him before turning away and leaving the bridge.  _

_ Around him, Ahsoka, Cody, and Rex watched his former-apprentice leave. They knew so little that it hurt. They hadn’t heard the words which Anakin had thrown at him in the days after returning from Naboo, or the way he’d snapped at him every time he tried to fix things.  _

_ None of them knew about Maul, no one but the Council, but he was sure now that everyone had heard the whispers of his return. But that had been expected. Ventress wasn’t exactly low-profile.  _

_ Anakin had confronted him mere hours after his return, moments after he’d left the bacta tank. But that had been short, as the man’s worry and shock at the wounds from Maul had been quelled the moment Obi-Wan left the halls of healing.  _

||

_ He was walking down a hall filled with ornate decor. Bluish floor tiles formed a beautiful tessellation, meticulously cleaned and polished to match the grand appearance of the rest of the palace.  _

_ Obi-Wan recognized the place instantly, even before a pair of Royal Guards approached, their crested helmets instantly recognizable as one of Duchess Satine’s men. _

_ Beside him, Satine went on about some things that had come to pass since they’d last seen each other.  _

_ She was beautiful, her hair pulled back into the traditional headdress. Her navy gown brought out her eyes, its high collar framing her cheekbones in the afternoon sun.  _

_ But as beautiful as Satine Kryze was, it was not that which had stolen his heart all those years ago.  _

_ Qui-Gon had figured it out easily, and gently reminded him of his duty to the Jedi Order, but both he and Obi-Wan had left soon after.  _

||

He was falling, his body a dead weight in the air as gravity dragged him down through the hole. Managing to reach out weakly, his hand briefly rubbed against a kind of dark sludge before blackness slammed into his vision. 

Suddenly the world was cold, freezing him down to the bone. Water flooded his senses and he thrashed, gasping and choking. 

||

_ Satine’s voice had been raw when he finally found the courage to contact her. At first, her face showed joy at his miraculous survival. That soon changed.  _

_ Anger in her voice…  _

_ The touch of stiffness in how she spoke every word… _

_ He apologized.  _

_ And then she was gone, her holographic image flickering out of view.  _

_ Satine had been there, at his funeral, right beside Padme, Ahsoka, Anakin, and Plo. She’d wept for him, shedding tears of grief.  _

_ He didn’t know when or if she would ever forgive him.  _

_ And, for breaking her heart, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever forgive himself.  _

||

He couldn’t see where they’d thrown him, but he was falling. 

There was no light. 

He saw a flicker of red and then was blinded by what he could only assume was water, as his body splashed down in the dark. Cold reached deep into his body, reaching into his lungs first and then into his heart. 

Unable to fight it, he eventually succumbed to weakness. 

In his mind, his last thoughts were of Satine, Anakin, and Ahsoka. He wondered if he’d ever get the chance to speak to them again. 

Then, the numbness worked its way into his brain, shock overtaking his thoughts. 

He couldn’t breathe. 

And so darkness took over. 


	8. Chapter 8

[AHSOKA VIII]

_ It was a trap. I should’ve known it would be…  _

A droid crept closer to her back and she spun, brandishing her sabers, only to find the same happening to her other side. They were teasing her, goading her to make the first move. 

Slowly, they closed in, eating away at the open area in the center of the hall. 

With every passing moment, Ahsoka’s anxiety grew. 

There was a vent nearby, back up the tunnel, but she was too far away… 

_ And the gas…  _

Footsteps came from up the corridor, heavier than that of a droid and horribly familiar. The darkness in the Force seemed to twist and write as the form of General Grievous came into view. He advanced towards her slowly, hands clasped behind his back. 

Grievous’s cloak, ragged and dark, framed wide metallic shoulders which stood far above the other droids. Yellow eyes, slit-pupiled, fixed unwaveringly on Ahsoka. He towered above her menacingly. 

She’d faced him before, when she’d been younger and far less experienced, but even now… he was nothing short of terrifying. 

Suddenly she was right back to the early days of her apprenticeship, hiding behind the shelves of the Separatist base, running for her life. Ahsoka remembered Goldie’s betrayal, the way that his onboard floodlight had given her away and nearly killed her. 

_ But that was a long time ago, _ she told herself. 

_ Calm.  _

Her heart hammered in her chest, blood roaring in her ears. 

_ Calm.  _

“Well, if it isn’t Skywalker’s brat.” 

Ahsoka eyes narrowed, “General Grievous,” she spat, backing up a step. Her spine was dangerously close to the Commando droid behind her, but she resisted the urge to flinch. 

_ One shot could kill me in seconds.  _

_ Calm, Ahsoka.  _

_ Wait.  _

“I’m afraid you won’t find Kenobi here,” Grievous sneered. “You Jedi are so predictable.”

With a series of mechanical  _ clicks _ , the cyborg general’s arms separated, igniting his blades. The sheer amount of green and blue light seemed dizzying in itself--and then the blades began to spin, faster and faster. 

Ahsoka adjusted her grip on her sabers, steeling herself. 

Around her, the droids parted, retreating under the threat of being cut in two. 

General Grievous was ego driven, too proud. He would want to kill her himself with his own hands. And that was something that she could use to her advantage. 

_ He knows I’m still a Padawan. The droids could fire on me in a second, but they won’t because he thinks I’m an easy target.  _

A thread of anger curled into her mind as she remembered hearing all the stories back at the temple. Masters would return from missions, their faces blank and presence dim, many times unable to even bring back a lightsaber or body. 

In her mind, she pictured Anakin. The way he smiled, how much he cared… 

_ Obi-Wan’s limp form plummeted from above, crashing into the crates nearby. His terrible last, shuddering breaths.  _

_ Anakin’s cry of sheer pain and grief, his refusal to leave Obi-Wan’s side-- _

She had forgiven Obi-Wan, even after she and Anakin had grieved. And even now, her Master had yet to free himself of that terrible sense of betrayal, to look past the false body, now an unmarked grave in the bowels of the Jedi Temple. 

In the following days, Ahsoka had pictured her own grave, fearing what would become of her Master if she ever joined the Force. She could only see pain and suffering… and worse. 

Ahsoka retreated another few steps. 

_ Just a little farther.  _

Grievous lunged and she rose to meet him, taking the brunt of the attack with her shoto. Grunting under the effort, her already-tired arms shaking, she drew the Force around herself once more, letting its power fill her body. 

Around them, the droids continued to retreat, blank visual sensors fixed on their fight like enamoured spectators. 

Ahsoka broke free of the saber lock and leaped backwards, panting. A droid stumbled, coming just a bit too close to her right arm and she lashed out without looking, and cut through it with ease. 

She didn’t dare look up, lest she give away her plan. 

_ Perfect.  _

Grievous leaned back and stared at her, lightsabers held at the ready. 

“How disappointing,” his rough voice echoed, “I expected more of a challenge.”

Then he began his attack, blades lashing out on all sides. Ahsoka felt adrenaline course through her as she dodged and weaved, blocking his strikes here and there. 

For a few seconds, they seemed to be locked in a vicious dance, and then Ahsoka flipped backwards, landing behind one of the nearby droids, and shoved the unsuspecting B1 right into Grievous’s path. 

Ahsoka took the opportunity to act. She reached up to the ceiling with the Force, and pulled down on the vent’s grate as hard as she could. The durasteel bars came free easily, and a tendril of gas soon began to snake down from its entrance. Apparently, it had finally reached them.

Raking her fingers through the air, she brought it in a sweeping motion, crashing through an entire wave of droids before Grievous had time to react. 

Turning, feeling like her legs were made of jelly, Ahsoka took off as quickly as she could, tearing down the corridor back the way she’d come. 

She could hear Grievous’s cry of rage behind her and the sound of lightsaber blades retracting; soon, however, everything became drowned out by the rhythmic thud of metallic feet. 

Ahsoka sped past the place where she’d dropped down from the vent, blaster bolts peppering the durasteel walls and floor around her. 

Then, out of nowhere, Grievous was onto her, his blades arcing from overhead and stabbing downward. Jerking back, she launched herself away from him, shoving him away with the Force. In her weakened state, she couldn’t send him very far… 

So she kept running. 

Ahsoka leaped over the fallen grate, and slid around the corner. With every passing second, the pain in her side seemed to double, and she soon found her body unable to maintain her frantic pace. 

_ I need to find them. Obi-Wan. The prisoners. They have to be here. The lower levels--it has to be. _

She ran right through a group of droids, vaulting over the maintenance unit and cutting through its pair of escort B1s. 

Then it occurred to her. 

_ Kriffing mother--  _

_ Dumb, Ahsoka. How could you have forgotten? _

Slowing to a limp, she raised her right forearm and fumbled with her comlink. Seconds later, a dull explosion met her ears. 

For what like an eternity, Ahsoka continued her desperate escape, only finding a moment’s break when she found a turbolift. Panting, she collapsed against the durasteel, clutching her ribs. 

Gasping, she keyed in the third to bottom level, her best estimation to where the side entrance was. 

The lift was slow, but she was fine with that. Briefly closing her eyes, she rested her head against the durasteel. 

Her body had begun to warm a bit, her suit having dried slightly over time, but chill still bit deep into her skin. The Force had helped, but only to sustain her. 

Ahsoka thought of the warm, Coruscant sun and the comfort of her bed. She told herself that she’d be there soon… 

She shivered, a sinking feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. The Force was whispering again, the way it always did before something bad happened…

Ahsoka squeezed her eyelids tighter. 

_ What else can go wrong now?  _

_ What else after so many things…  _

Sadness filled her heart. Would things have turned out the way that had if Anakin and Obi-Wan were on better terms? They were unstoppable as a team, the Kenobi-Skywalker duo… But now? What were they? 

She desperately wanted them with her, her family to come and help her--

But, of course, she was on her own. 

_ And I’m the only chance Obi-Wan has of making it out of here.  _

As the lift continued to move downward, she keyed in Commander Cody’s frequency. In typical fashion, however, he answered quickly. 

_ “This is Commander Cody.” _

“Cody,” she began, “how close are you to the compound?” 

Even though she and Cody hadn’t worked nearly as closely as she and Rex, she’d come to know the 212th Commander quite well. He and Obi-Wan were a matching set, two strict rule-followers, both to the point, putting their duty first. And when in communication, he rarely sugar-coated things. 

But even if she hadn’t known him, even if they’d met for the first time that day, she’d have been able to tell the graveness of their situation just by his tone. 

_ “Commander…”  _ Cody hesitated,  _ “we’re not very far, within a klick, but it’s going to be slow-moving. General Skywalker has engaged the enemy topside, but we’ve already met several scouts. Grievous knows we’re coming.”  _

Ahsoka’s heart sank. 

“How many casualties,” she asked.

For a moment, he did not respond. 

Ahsoka’s breath quickened, her heartbeat beginning to pound in her ears. 

_ “We lost three on our way to the ravine floor. We have two injured. Only myself and three others are unhurt.”  _ For a moment, she could hear the vulnerability in his voice. 

_ He’s lost brothers in this invasion.  _

Ahsoka allowed herself a moment of pause, allowing herself to share his pain. Who had lost their lives in this mission already? Too many died just in their landing, lost in the downed ships, and they’d lost even more men to the repeated attacks on their forces. 

_ And now,  _ she thought,  _ how many more are going to die trying to rescue us?  _

_ … To rescue me?  _

She knew Cody was on the other side of the channel awaiting orders. Vaguely, she could hear the roar of the wind and rain, occasionally interrupted by blaster fire. 

_ I can’t let them die for me, not like this.  _

Ahsoka opened her mouth, swallowing her fear and pain, prepared to tell them to turn back. She  _ wanted  _ to send them back, to keep them safe. Those weren’t just soldiers or meaningless numbers losing their lives out in that hellscape, those were her  _ friends _ . 

Not just clones, but  _ real people _ . 

And then she slammed her fist against the durasteel, twin doors. 

_ “Commander?”  _ Cody sounded worried. 

“I’m alright, Cody,” she replied, surprised at just how weary her voice sounded. “Please continue your approach. Be careful, and take the time you need to get here with as few casualties as possible. I’ll hold out as long as I can.” 

The turbolift halted, bleeping softly to announce its arrival. 

_ “Roger that, Commander, I will keep you updated,” _ Cody replied without the slightest change in his tone. Ahsoka marvelled at his composure. 

“Thank you, Ahsoka out.” She lowered her arms and took a deep breath, leaning back from the entrance.

With a slightly trembling hand, she pressed at the lift’s keypad. 

The lift shuddered and then continued its descent. 

_ I have to keep going.  _

_ They’re counting on me.  _

_ Everyone is counting on me.  _

||

As it turned out, the lift stopped one floor lower before grinding to a halt. Ahsoka frowned, and pressed the bottom floor once more on the keypad. 

Nothing. 

Her frown deepened. 

The Force was whispering again, foretelling something ominous… 

_ I had this feeling before, when we entered.  _

Suddenly, Ahsoka felt as though she was about to walk into something terrible, something foretelling unseen horrors and death… 

The lift doors slid open and she immediately realized why it had refused to go any farther. 

Water pooled in the corridor at about ankle’s depth, but had, like the upper floor, at some point reached the ceiling. Sludge and a kind of greenish growth caked the walls, and dirt covered almost everything in sight, covering the walls and floor. 

The biggest difference between this corridor and the upper entrance one, however, was the distinct lack of light; for when Ahsoka had opened the lift, she’d been greeted with pitch darkness. 

As a Togruta, her eyesight was not bad in the darkness, and she almost immediately took comfort in that fact. 

In total, however, it did little to calm her nerves. 

She could sense no droids nearby. 

Placing one foot before the other, she struggled to mentally steel herself against the oppressing darkness and fear. Death whispered in her ears, reflected in the skeletal remains of droids scattered across the floor, lost to the corrosion of water. 

The tunnel seemed long, and the silence deep, save for the distant drip of water. 

Ahsoka’s heart thudded in her chest, her throat constricting. Despair ate at her confidence with every passing second. Her memory screamed at her, reminding her of all the moments where she’d felt death in such a strong way. 

The Citadel. 

Ryloth. 

But the darkness here seemed to hang in the very air, choking her in its age and pain. It was stale and oppressive in its own right. 

_ ‘Master, where are you?’  _ She called desperately through their light bond. 

_ Please… please…  _

The light cast from the turbolift abruptly disappeared as it was summoned from elsewhere; Ahsoka nearly jumped through the roof when the soft whirr of its motors filled the tunnel. In the silence, the sound echoed horribly. 

Now, plunged in complete darkness, she raised her lightsabers higher. 

Her heart beat faster. 

_ There’s one floor below this…  _ She realized with dread.  _ And I don’t even know where the prison block is. All I have are the old, outdated information and general speculations of the Council…  _

Closing her eyes, she tried to reach out once more, this time throwing all caution to the winds and expanding her presence as far as she could. 

She could feel the water, a cool sensation about her feet through the protective layers of her suit and boots. Farther than that--

Darkness assaulted her senses and she nearly cried out as a wave of raw emotion threatened to send her to the floor. Screams filled her ears. 

_ ‘Please!’ _

_ ‘Spare them, don’t hurt him--’ _

_ ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…’  _

_ ‘No pl--’ _

Withdrawing slowly, she felt fear for what she’d see when she finally opened them.

_ Maybe this is all a bad dream.  _

_ It has to be…  _

_ You’re a fool for thinking that, Tano.  _

As she finally returned back to herself, however, Ahsoka froze. A splash echoed from up ahead, muffled, but clearly not originating from something any smaller than a droid. 

Ahsoka left her eyes closed, feeling death close in around her once more. Something was urging her on, as though a voice in her head was calling her closer to the sound. Fear made her hesitate, whispers of temptation calling her to the darkness, feeding into her worst nightmares. 

Loss.

Death. 

Abandonment. 

Shoving back at those fears, Ahsoka felt energy bleed from her body. 

_ I won’t do it.  _

_ I won’t.  _

_ A Jedi doesn’t need their eyes.  _

_ A Jedi does not need to see.  _

She ran the words over and over in her mind, shivering, as her foot grazed against something. 

_ It’s not alive.  _

_ Relax, Ahsoka.  _

_ Relax.  _

_ Breathe.  _

_ You don’t have to look.  _

_ You don’t need to see.  _

_ A Jedi can see through the Force with clarity…  _

The darkness was suffocating and her nose filled with a terrible rotting smell, making her gag. Still, she steadfastly refused to open her eyes. 

Then a sound rang out in the tunnel, lighting every nerve in her body on fire. She choked down a yell of surprise, nearly slipping into the water. It took a moment for her mind to even comprehend the sound of her comlink chirping. Just as the turbolift doors had seemed amplified in sound, the commlink’s soft beep felt like a siren, screaming in the dead silence of the seemingly-abandoned corridor. 

Gasping, Ahsoka raised her forearm close to her lips, and answered. 

“Ahsoka… here,” she cleared her throat, suddenly aware of just how deathly  _ quiet  _ everything was. 

Commander Cody’s voice sounded like a foghorn in the corridor, causing her to instinctively clap a hand over the small speaker installed in the comm unit. 

_ “Commander, we’re close to the compound right now. I’ve received word from General Skywalker and it appears that he’s going to try and meet us down here. Conditions are getting worse--” _

Static briefly fizzed out the Commander’s words. 

_ “--t here. We’ll have to make our last stand at your position. The Ge--reported that your explosives took out their artillery facing the ravine. It’s unknown how long it’ll take them to circle back. They took heavy losses. What’s your status?” _

A slight sense of relief came at his words, even though Ahsoka knew that she should be worried about every single one of them--most of all the fact that her Master was coming to her… 

_ He’s coming here…  _

“Cody, I haven’t located General Kenobi or the Senators, but I’m one level below the compound entrance.” She hesitated. “It’s not looking good… this place seems abandoned, but I’m very close to the calculated location of the large detention block.”

_ “Copy that, Commander. Do you want me to send a team to get you when we arrive?” _

She nearly burst into tears, but managed to maintain her composure, squeezing her eyes closed even tighter. 

_ Anyone.  _

_ Someone.  _

_ Please. _

“Yes, that would be most appreciated.” Ahsoka took a long breath, doing her best to ignore the rancid air. 

_ “I will contact you again once we reach the compound.” _ The sound of blaster fire fizzled on his end of the call. 

_ “Cody out.”  _

And with that, Ahsoka was once more plunged into loneliness. Her eyelids hurt, the faint green of her sabers visible through her skin. 

Her side throbbed again and she was reminded once more just how tired she was. A headache was pulsing at the back of her skull, a warning that she was near the end of the line. 

_ Too much use of the Force… I don’t know that I can take any more.  _

She dragged herself forward, senses reaching out for any sign of life or movement. But she’d hardly taken two steps before she felt something. 

Something familiar, and yet so alien to her, something that she’d only imagined and hoped for since she’d first planted the charges. 

Amid the darkness and death, a faint light flared. It was weak, but very much there. 

She let out a breath, feeling a rush of relief course through her. 

_ Obi-Wan.  _


	9. Chapter 9

[AHSOKA IX]

She followed the faint light in the Force, allowing it to guide her through the darkness. Her muscles were taught, tired, and aching, but she refused to shift her stance out of pure nerves. 

At any moment, she expected something to leap out of the darkness at her. 

Ahsoka felt herself pass through an open area and into another hallway; with each step, there was a small splash, giving her at least that much sense. The rest was in the Force. 

Something hit her foot and she jumped slightly, cursing internally as she felt her side burn. Pain flashed down her side and into her hip, exacerbated by the cold. 

_ Calm it, Tano.  _

_ Calm.  _

The smell of death was getting worse. She felt a fine mist against her face and she resisted the urge to rub her face. 

She didn’t know how long she’d been walking, but Ahsoka soon noted that the air was growing colder, the mist thicker, and the whispers of the fall had begun to haunt her with even more vigor. 

She turned a corner, and nearly fell as the ground beneath her left foot seemed to have vanished. 

Yelping, she backpedaled, coming to stand some distance away from the mysterious drop. 

_ Keep it together. _

_ Cody, Rex, Anakin, the Senators--they’re all counting on you.  _

Drawing her wits about her, Ahsoka slowly opened her eyes. 

What she saw before her was nothing short of a nightmare. 

In front of her, the floor seemed to drop away, a thin steep set of stairs leading downwards. The water was deep there, at least up to her waist, she suspected. A set of stairs lead down to the two rows of cells, slick with a suspicious looking sludge. 

An eerie, red glow filled the space in the cell block, cast by a single ray shield which barred the entrance to each the closest cell to her. 

Swallowing, Ahsoka moved down the first step, steadying herself as she nearly fell. The muck there was slippery--dangerously so. 

Eyes moving across the space, she counted eight cells, four on each side of the hall, and then a blank wall of durasteel. A dead end covered in layers of grime and the same black sludge. 

As she moved farther down the stairs, she began to feel increasingly worried. This was the place. It had to be. 

But it felt so wrong… 

The scent of decay was overpowering and only growing stronger. She moved to cover her nose with a hand, eyes watering slightly, bile rising in her throat. 

All around her, the Force hissed softly.

Her eyes narrowed.

_ Two more steps and I’m there.  _

Her body was shaking from the cold now, her knees knocking together, but she refused to hesitate, even when the water began to seep through the breach in her suit. 

The cold presence was shocking against her skin and her vision momentarily went red. A strong tingling sensation prickled the back of her head. Static flitted across her vision, a peppering of black and gray dots. 

There was nothing that could help her fight the cold now. She didn’t have the strength to use the Force… not like  _ that _ at any rate… 

The ray shield was right in front of her and she collapsed against its front, panting. She shook her head against the haze in her eyes, squinting. 

A bench in the corner. 

Rubble. 

_ It’s empty.  _

Feeling nauseous, she dragged herself forward, extinguishing her shoto and clipping it to her belt. 

The light was so close, but it had grown so much dimmer… 

Fear bit into her almost as strongly as the numbness which was beginning to overtake her feet and legs. 

_ I don’t like this.  _

_ Something’s not right here… _

The ray shield was broken on the next cell, damaged by the water. Ahsoka raised her blade higher and leaned forward, peering around the corner. 

She staggered back, shock and horror rippling through her. 

Senator Burtoni lay on her back, floating just beneath the water, still and silent like a ghost. Her large, Kaminoan eyes gleamed in the light from Ahsoka’s saber hauntingly. 

Gulping, Ahsoka turned away from the cell, feeling empty. 

_ She’s gone… _

_ No…  _

But that means… 

Ahsoka swallowed thickly and retreated towards the center of the corridor, painfully staggering through the freezing water. She felt sick, her head pounding. 

From her vantage in the center of the corridor, she scanned the other cells, feeling dread grow with every passing second. 

She could see them all from there. 

All of them. 

Two human Senators shared a cell next to Senator Burtoni. In the next cell lay two more motionless forms, wearing dark robes. And past them--

Ahsoka squinted, and felt her heart plummet. 

_ Riyo.  _

_ Oh Force, Riyo…  _

_ I’m so sorry.  _

The cold was rising within her, gripping her heart in its terrible claws. She swayed. 

Numbly, she raised her forearm and opened a channel to Commander Cody. 

_ “Cody here, I was about to contact you, we’ve secured the entry.” _

“They’re gone,” she said hollowly, “I found the prisoners. They’re gone.”

Cody was silent. 

The Force was silent. 

And then it hit Ahsoka like a sledgehammer. 

_ Obi-Wan.  _

The light, it was gone. 

Panic flooded her senses. 

_ Force, where is he?  _

The sound of blaster fire blared from her comm, followed by several shouts. 

She turned, breathing hard with the effort of moving. There was something just out of her view, something in the last cell on the left--

_ “Commander, we’ve run into some interference. I will have to call you back--Cody out.” _

On all sides, the water pressed against her, chilling her down to the bone. She pushed against it, hauling one foot before the other. 

The light, cast by her lightsaber, was shaking terribly--her entire  _ body  _ was shaking. 

_ Move, Ahsoka, move it! _

She could see him now. The cream-colored tunic, the familiar reddish-brown boots--he was so close. 

Around her, the water was getting deeper. It had already risen to her chest and was rapidly approaching her shoulders. 

Frustration nearly sent tears to her eyes. 

_ Come on-- _

_ Come on, Tano.  _

_ You’re so close. _

She stopped, deactivating her blade. It would not help her now. 

Without the light of her weapon, everything seemed to glow a deep, dark red. 

_ I don’t know if I can use the Force… I… what if I drop him? What will happen…  _

_ But if I go any farther, I’ll die. I can’t carry him, not like this…  _

__

Slowly, she raised her arms, struggling to reach the Force. 

Fatigue. Cold. Pain. Death. 

_ Get--get past it, Ahsoka.  _

A memory slipped its way into her mind. 

She’d been running, sprinting after Anakin--

A blaster shot. 

The crashing sound of a body hitting wooden crates--

_ No, no I can’t think of that now.  _

_ No. _

Gritting her teeth, Ahsoka let out a cry. Her presence expanded, moving outwards--

And then she had him, feeling the weight of his body in the Force. A light flickered there, still, within him, a faint whisper through their bond. 

_ He’s alive-- _

_ He’s alive.  _

_ Thank the Force-- _

Breathing hard, she began to retreat. She couldn’t feel her feet, but could only trust in the way that she was still above the water, that she was still  _ upright _ \--

He was clear of the cell now, hovering inches above the water, limp. In the light of the ray shield, he looked pale.

He looked--

But she couldn’t think like that. She couldn’t. 

Then, Ahsoka’s foot knocked against the bottom step and she slipped backwards. Her backside splashed down onto the durasteel step and she instinctively threw out an arm to prevent her from sliding farther into the water. 

_ No! _

Her fingers met sludge and she slipped, her arm twisting horribly. 

_ No--not now! _

Obi-Wan’s still form grazed the water and then rose back up, her control returning after a few moments. 

Sitting on the stairs, shoulder-deep in water, Ahsoka panted, eyes squeezed tight. By some miracle, she’d managed to keep her Grandmaster’s form above the water. 

Slowly, she picked herself up, but almost immediately cried out as white-hot pain shot through her. 

_ My arm-- _

Carefully bracing her feet, she pushed herself back, hearing the squelching sound of the muck beneath her suit. She moved herself up a step--then two. Soon she was back up on the main corridor, her boots just barely dangling off the first step.

A dark haze swam around the edges of her vision, making it even more difficult to see. 

Groaning, focused as much energy as she could into the Force, channeling as much power as she could muster into the fingers of her left hand. 

Obi-Wan’s form drifted closer, a spectre in the deep gloom. 

Ahsoka’s strength was waning at an alarming rate, her body resisting her every move. She closed her eyes, crying out from the effort of using the Force. She could feel her Grandmaster moving closer, the Force still supporting him--

Her fingers shook. 

The darkness was so close. She could feel her mind just barely walking the line between consciousness and the void. 

With a yell, she pulled Obi-Wan towards her as hard as she could. His body collided with her and they both went sprawling. 

Ahsoka landed facedown, feeling his body slumped across her legs. She coughed on water, and tilted her head away from the floor, gasping. 

Her eyes fell to her Grandmaster, lying nearby. Much was face-up, his mouth and nose clear of the water. His chest rose and fell, a very slight movement, but proof that he was alive. 

_ I have him.  _

_ He’s here.  _

For a moment, she lay there. Her feet and legs were numb and her shoulder was useless--broken or dislocated, or both. The injury that she’d carried since her initial fall into the ravine burned, tingling slightly. 

_ Force, I’m tired.  _

_ So tired.  _

Ahsoka groaned, rolling onto her left shoulder before slowly pushing herself upright, pulling her legs beneath her. 

Shifting slightly, she crawled closer to Obi-Wan feeling layers of muck through her light gloves. 

His light was still there in the Force, but it was dwindling, growing fainter and fainter. 

Fumbling for her shoto, Ahsoka ignited her blade and leaned closer to him, recoiling when she saw purplish-blue bruises covering his face and neck. 

_ Kriffing hells…  _

She was about to call for Cody when she felt something shift next to her. The darkness whispered, beckoning her and Obi-Wan to come closer, to… 

Obi-Wan exhaled slightly, a soft sigh, and then was still. 

The Force darkened, like a candle that had just been gently snuffed out. 

Panic seized her heart.  _.  _

_ No-- _

“Oh--nonono,” she whispered aloud. 

Suddenly, she was no longer cold or in pain. 

She was back in that dark alleyway with the still form of Obi-Wan Kenobi, tears freely running down her face. 

Ahsoka reached out with her left hand and gently rested her palm over his forehead. He still felt warm-- _ burning  _ almost--but even as she stayed there, his body began to cool. 

Automatically, she shifted closer, bringing him into her lap. 

She was more exhausted than she’d ever been in her whole life, the aching cold consuming her body. 

But she had to try. 

With a shaky, deep breath, she dove into the Force, feeling her body screaming that it was too much--that she needed to stop…

She dove down their bond, swimming through the darkness until she found it. 

It was faint, and fading still, but the light was there. 

After that fateful night on Coruscant and every day after, she’d held onto the idea that she and Anakin would be okay; that, had things gone some other way… that they’d survive. 

But after her Grandmaster had returned, she’d seen the hurt, the anger, that terrible pain-- 

_ ‘I can’t lose you again,’  _ she whispered into the Force. 

And then she poured as much of her strength as she could through their bond. 

  
  


She fell back, feeling dizzy. For a moment, she stared upwards, barely registering the soft sound of robotic voices. 

_ “Roger roger--” _

Was she dreaming? The world seemed to spin, turning on an axis that she could not follow. She was falling--

No, she was still there, sitting upright, swaying. 

Obi-Wan coughed softly, a ragged sound that soon gave way to a gasp for breath. 

Her comm beeped and she numbly cradled her arm, bringing the comm closer to her face. 

_ “Commander Tano?”  _ Cody’s voice burst through her comlink, the sound slightly garbled.

_ “Commander?” _

“I... copy.” Her voice sounded so distant. 

_ “Th--droids c--your way---in per---t”  _ Cody was saying something, but she couldn’t quite hear him right. 

“Cody…” she breathed. 

A light flickered in her vision and her head lolled in its direction. 

_ It’s over.  _

_ I’m done.  _

_ We’re both done.  _

The light was blinding now, shining off of a barrel--

_ I’m sorry Padme, I’m sorry… _

_ I promised you I’d bring back Riyo.  _

Ahsoka let out a breath. 

The last thing she saw was the gleam of the Commando droid’s eyes and the bright blue flicker of laser fire, before the world went dark. 

_ Anakin, Obi-Wan, Rex….  _

_ I’m sorry.  _


	10. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reunion that Ahsoka needed. 
> 
> That they /all/ needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late update on this one!  
> I started writing this fic thinking that I had all the key plot points already planned out, but as I continued writing, this story took on a life of its own. 
> 
> Aaaaand so when I finally got to this chapter... well, y'all can probably imagine. My plans kind of went out the window.
> 
> Thank you guys so much for riding out this one with me, I know it's been a while.  
> Hope you enjoy <3

Light swam above her, drifting closer. 

At first, it was a single, circular orb, but it soon drew closer, spreading a muted glow across her entire field of vision. 

The air was warm, with a slight tang of something that she couldn’t place. 

Ahsoka felt as though she were floating, and panic began to work its way into her chest. 

You’re done, Ahsoka. This is the Force, you’ve… 

…

…

…

_The darkness unfolded before her eyes, bleeding into the dark silhouettes of eight identical cells. A dark, red light cast across all that she could see, twisting every object and shape into a ghastly and terrible mass of death._

Riyo… 

_Ahsoka’s heart was racing. As her blood roared in her ears, her breath caught in her throat. Everything was hollow, blindingly red and she couldn’t--she couldn’t hear anything. A ghostly howl filled the air and she stumbled back._

_Her lightsaber fell from her shaking hand, splashing down seconds before her body hit the water._

_The tunnel echoed with her scream as icy water filled her suit. Her legs were already frozen, her hips and the exposed skin of her midriff blazing with pain as the water made contact._

_And then she was underneath the churning waves, her fingers spasming, chest seeming to curl inwards with the shocking cold._

_Water filled her mouth and nose; she gagged, thrashing._

No!

No, this can’t be happening!

_She screamed into the darkness as her lungs constricted--_

A furious beeping met her ears and she felt a weight drop onto her arms. 

_They have me! The Sep--_

_\--can’t let them--no!_

A white-hot thread of panic wrapped itself about her senses, blinding her. 

Her eyes flew open. Everything was white, save for two blurry figures towering above her. Even as she watched, a third entered her field of vision, taller. It bore down on her, a single, claw-like arm reaching for her. 

She recoiled, fighting to break free. 

_I have to help--_

_He’s going to die in that cell--_

_\--Obi-Wan--_

_He’s alone in the corridor--_

She lashed out, a scream leaving her lips. 

A sharp sting seared against the skin on her shoulder and an overwhelming sense of fatigue washed over her. 

She was no longer floating… Her limbs were so heavy… 

_I… have to…_

  
  


||

The air against her face was cooler this time, the rhythmic beeping sound softer. A low buzz of sound met Ahsoka’s ears… 

Her eyes flew open. 

The first thing she saw was the grayish ceiling and dimmed lights. Turning her head slightly, she took in the medical wing and its simple presentation. 

Blinking slowly, she let out a breath. 

Everything felt muted, her mind fuzzy. 

And then her eyes slid to her left… 

She saw her Grandmaster stretched out in the next bed, his body swathed in a white hospital gown--a light blanket pulled up over his shoulders. 

_What…_

And then it clicked. 

Gasping, she struggled to roll over, throwing herself towards the end of the bed and battling the three layers of blankets which fought her every move. Ahsoka roughly tore the IV needle from her arm and clasped her hands about the bedframe, dragging her head and shoulders over. 

Shouts echoed in the air and she heard rapidly-approaching footsteps. 

She heaved herself off the bed, her feet coming free of the blankets. Instantly, her knees hit the floor with a sickening crack and she felt pain ricochet up her legs. 

A shadow came over her and her hazy connection with the Force registered that there were two people… 

“Commander!”

_Kix._

“What are you doing?”

Strong arms wrapped around her shoulders and she felt herself being hoisted upwards. 

Even such a small change in elevation made her feel dizzy. Ahsoka struggled to get her feet underneath her body, her bare feet freezing against the durasteel floor.

“Easy there, Commander. I need you to lie back down--” 

“--Need to see--” She reached out towards Obi-Wan’s still form. 

The world was spinning. 

But she had to know. 

She _had_ to. 

In the Force, Ahsoka could sense the Kix’s reluctance. After a moment, he sighed. Slowly, he began to walk her towards the other bed.

As they approached Ahsoka felt emotion begin to rise up inside her chest. Her eyelids felt heavy even as a familiar pressure built up behind her eyes. 

Stumbling slightly, Ahsoka threw her arms out, catching the edge of her Grandmaster’s bedside. She barely registered a medical clone slipping a chair beneath her as she fumbled for Obi-Wan’s hand. 

_This can’t be right, this can’t be real._

She was still in that terrible place, surrounded by death and darkness…

_This is a dream._

She had to be still sitting in that alleyway, her Grandmaster dead in her arms, Anakin begging him to come back. 

_This has to be a dream--_ It was all she could think. How else could things seem so light...

Her Grandmaster’s hand was warm and the moment her fingers brushed against his skin, a soft flare of light echoed in their bond. 

_This has to be…_

Her fingers found Obi-Wan’s wrist. 

She half-expected there to be nothing. A silence much like when she’d found him… 

But there it was, the steady beating pulse. 

Life. 

Ahsoka slowly keeled forward, her forehead coming down on the side of the bed. 

And then the tears fell, great sobs wracking her whole body. 

Until sleep overcame her senses, Ahsoka stayed there. She didn’t care who saw her or what they thought of her emotions. All that mattered, to her, was the hand she was holding--

And the steady heartbeat there. 

||

A soft hand rested itself on her shoulder. 

Ahsoka twitched, blinking groggily. Her vision was hazy, but she could see… 

Her heart leaped into her throat. 

Obi-Wan was there, his hand on her shoulder. 

Ahsoka looked up into his eyes, noting that he was smiling. 

“Hello, Ahsoka.” Obi-Wan’s voice sounded raw. “Are you alright?” 

For a moment, all she could do was stare. He looked gaunt, his cheekbones jutting from his face, shadows deep beneath his eyes. A nasty bruise still covered the skin above his right eyebrow, disappearing into his hairline. Multiple cuts and bruises created a dark latticework pattern near the collar of his medical gown, points where she could imagine Grievous had dug his fingers into… 

Pressure was building behind Ahsoka’s eyes and she felt her mouth twist into a grimace. She abruptly looked away, hoping to hide her face from her Grandmaster.

_He can’t see me like this, I can’t…_

Ahsoka tried to pull her mental shields together, but found them in shambles. 

_Why am I like this now? Why…_

She forced out a breath, grappling for control--

_You’re not a youngling, Tano, keep it together._

_Control it._

Her chest was tightening, her eyes burning. 

There was an unused, mobile medical table nearby, its instruments all deactivated. A medical officer sat next to it, buried in a datapad. Despite appearing to be busy, Ahsoka knew that the Clone was watching them. She put all of her focus onto the back of the datapad. 

_Control--_

The hand on her shoulder tightened. Warmth filled her light bond with Obi-Wan. Somehow the touch, while comforting, only made it more difficult to control herself. 

“There is no shame in having emotions, Padawan,” her Grandmaster’s voice was soft. “It’s what makes us who we are. ”

That was it. 

Ahsoka buried her face back in the blankets. 

“I _failed_ , Master… All the Senators… they were all gone. If I’d been faster--”

A new thought came to her, adding to the frenzy of thoughts already in her mind. 

“Oh Force, Anakin--” 

Obi-Wan’s voice interrupted her. 

“Ahsoka.”

It took her every ounce of willpower just to turn and face her Grandmaster. And even then, she found it difficult to meet his eyes. 

_This isn’t like me, I need to be stronger, to be…_

“Anakin is fine, he pulled both of us out. He got hit in the shoulder, but he will be fine. One of the medics told me.” 

Ahsoka’s breathing steadied. 

_He’s alright. Calm._

“I owe you my life--we _all_ owe you our lives.” Obi-Wan smiled at her. “If you hadn’t taken out the heavy artillery, Anakin would never have been able to get close to the compound.”

“Master, I failed, the Senators--”

“--Were long gone.” Ahsoka turned at the sound of Rex’s voice. 

The Captain stood for a minute, framed in the doorway. He nodded to both her and Obi-Wan. “General, Commander, it’s good to see you.” 

Nodding, Obi-Wan smiled at Rex, “you too, Captain.” 

“Commander, with respect, I agree with the General. You--” Rex abruptly cut off as the sound of rapid footsteps. 

Moments later, the Clone Captain dodged to the side as Anakin Skywalker charged into the medical bay, wearing the bottom half of his uniform and sporting a bright white sling which cradled his left arm. 

The medical Clone leaped to his feet. “General Skywalker--”

Eyes wide, Anakin stared at them. 

“Kriffing hells,” he swallowed hard. 

Ahsoka felt his presence twist. 

And then Anakin’s expression collapsed, “I’m sorry,” he choked. “I’m so sorry.”

He surged forward and practically crushed both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan in a bear hug. 

For the first time in weeks, Ahsoka finally felt the hurt and pain slip from Anakin’s presence as he embraced the two of them in a powerful, radiant light. 

He pulled them closer. 

Obi-Wan choked slightly as he was nearly strangled by the sling. Realizing this, Anakin gingerly extracted himself from the white cloth and wrapped his arm around Obi-Wan’s shoulders instead. 

“I thought I’d lost both of you…” 

Ahsoka leaned into her Master’s embrace. Emotion threatened to swamp her again as she realized how easily she could’ve died. 

_If things had gone even slightly wrong, if I’d fallen differently from the edge of the ravine--if I’d waited even a second longer while confronting Grievous… I wouldn’t be here._

Shouts could be heard coming down the hall, approaching. Moments later, Kix careened into the room, cursing. 

Rex backed to a safe distance, taking up a spot near the foot of Ahsoka’s bed.

“General!” The Clone medic cried angrily, “how many times--” And then he caught sight of the three of them, huddled together.

Ahsoka watched over Anakin’s shoulder as the medic shook his head with something half-way between a smile and an expression of disapproval. 

Kix leaned towards the medical aid still seated near the door. “You try and get him back to bed as quickly as possible, that’s an order.” 

Nodding, the Clone put down his datapad. “Copy that.” 

Turning, Kix exited the medbay, still shaking his head. 

After a few moments, Anakin pulled away, backing up until he could seat himself on Ahsoka’s bed. His arm hung limply at his side. A certain sense of apprehension returned to his expression. 

“Master, Ahsoka… I owe you an apology. These last few weeks, I haven’t been fair to you.”

Ahsoka stared between her Master and Grandmaster. 

“You were not wrong to be angry with me, Anakin,” Obi-Wan spoke softly after a moment, “I… was inconsiderate and did not take into account how much damage that mission could cause…” 

Anakin shook his head. “I heard about Maul, Master.”

Obi-Wan froze. 

“I talked with the Council while you were out,” Anakin continued. “I should have been there for you, it’s Maul of all people--”

He stopped as Obi-Wan raised a hand, expression even. “It’s alright, Anakin. We both made mistakes. Maul was… unexpected.” 

Ahsoka watched as the tension seemed to dissipate from Anakin’s presence. He smiled slightly. 

“We both messed this one up, huh.” 

Obi-Wan leaned back into the cushions, chuckling. “It seems that way.” 

Ahsoka leaned into the soft bed behind her, her heart feeling lighter than it had in a long time. 

To her, they had always been a family, and that family had been brutally torn apart weeks ago… 

_Anakin is here._

_Obi-Wan is here._

_And Rex._

And now? Now, she could feel the relationship healing. It was a realization which sent waves of gratitude through her. 

At the sound of more footsteps, she turned her head towards the door. She sensed Kix and the typical miniature stormcloud which followed him.

Rex shifted slightly, drawing her attention. Catching her eye, the Clone Captain offered her a smile. She returned it. 

“General Skywalker, you are coming with me. That’s an order. Your arm will not heal unless we get you in bacta _now_.” 

Grimacing, Anakin got back to his feet and worked his arm back into its sling. 

As Kix gripped his upper arm, Anakin turned to Ahsoka. “Ahsoka, I’m so proud of you. Don’t ever forget that--we will talk more about this later. The Council is asking for us to debrief them on the mission and we can deal with business then. For now, get some rest.” 

Anakin’s eyes met hers, “don’t worry, Snips.” 

“Yes, Master.” Ahsoka nodded. 

Nodding to Obi-Wan, Anakin allowed himself to be dragged off. 

Ahsoka drifted back to bed and lowered herself into the cushions. 

Laying there, she remembered it all… the deception and anger, the painful aftermath, and then the mission.

_The mission._

A mental image of dark cells brushed against her consciousness, but she brushed it away. 

_It’s done._

_Over._

Breathing deeply, she allowed herself to fall into a light meditation. 

Nearby, she could feel Obi-Wan in the Force--already asleep. 

She felt herself smiling into the blankets. 

They were safe. 

She did not fight the emotions that crept into her mind this time, and instead burrowed deeper under the covers. 

_Me. Skyguy. Obi-Wan. Rex._

_As long as we’re together, I can deal with the consequences of this mission…_

Sleep slowly pulled her downwards into its embrace. Relaxing, she allowed her breathing to steady, following the rhythmic pattern of her heartbeat. 

_As long as we’re together, everything will be fine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another huge thank you to [Venatohru](https://venatohru.tumblr.com/) and [Shadowsong26](https://shadowsong26fic.tumblr.com/)! You guys are awesome <3
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed the update.  
> May the Force be with you!
> 
> ~LazarusII


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